---There was a girl standing in front of him with her back to him. She just stood there doing nothing but looking at something he couldn't see.
"Hello?" called Aang to the girl.
The girl said nothing. A breeze started up and stirred the girl's pale yellow dress and her dark brown hair that hung lower than her waist.
"Hello? Who are you?" called Aang again to the girl.
This time she giggled and started to walk away from Aang toward an unseen destination.
"Hey wait come back," said Aang he started to follow her slowly so as not to startle her. They walked for a while until all of a sudden the girl was gone. Aang ran to where he last saw her but found no sign of her. He heard a noise and turned toward the dark trees that towered over him in his airbending stance. He saw a pair of eyes staring at him from the gloom of the trees. Then he noticed a red glow coming toward him. He tried to dodge the flame but it came at him anyways and got him full in the face.---
Aang woke up with a start. He noticed he was sweating. He looked over to where Sokka was just snoring away. He pulled on his shirt, picked up his staff and walked out of the stuffy tent into the cool night. He walked over to where Appa was sleeping.
Appa woke up when he heard Aang coming and groaned. The young Avatar petted Appa until the 10-ton flying bison fell back asleep. Aang climbed onto Appa's head and laid down his back with his hands behind his head. He gazed up at the stars that danced across the night sky. Aang thought about how beautiful the sky looked at night and how beautiful life was and how his friend Katara was.
Aang woke up smelling sausage being cooked and nuts being roasted. He leapt gracefully off Appa and turned toward Katara who was making breakfast. "Morning Katara," said Aang. He walked over to where the girl was sitting and sat down.
"Morning Aang," said Katara with a smile. She looked up from her cooking when Sokka and Toph came out of their tents.
Toph's hair was all on top of her head in a big puff. And Sokka's was all matted and looked like it never have ever seen a brush before or even heard of one. They sat down on opposite sides of the fire and helped themselves to the cooking food. They both ate with such gusto that Katara and Aang had to make an excuse to leave to get out of there.
Katara and Aang each grabbed a couple of water skins and walked over to a nearby river where they filled the skins and sat down to bask in the sun. Then Aang stood up and splashed Katara and started to laugh.
"Oh you think its funny do you?" laughed Katara. She bended some water to slash Aang right back. Aang stood a moment there laughing then took off his shirt and pants and waded into the slow moving river so he could get at Katara better. They splashed each other for a while until they grew tired. Aang came back in and put his clothes back on before sitting next to Katara on the mossy bank laughing.
"Well aren't you two a cute couple," said a menacing voice.
Aang and Katara turned to see who it was but they knew who it was already. They jumped up and got into their bending stances. They each faced a different direction waiting for something to jump out of the shadows.
"Zuko," whispered Katara. She streamed some water and held it between her hands so she could use it if Zuko attacked. She looked all over but couldn't find the banished prince. Then she felt an arm encircle her waist. She tried to get away but the arm held her fast to the owner's body. Then she saw a ball of fire in front of her face and stopped struggling incase she burned her self.
Aang didn't notice Prince Zuko until he saw a red flame out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face him and to blow him away but he found someone else there. Prince Zuko had Katara! "Let her go now!" shouted an angry Aang.
The flame flared up a bit and Zuko replied, "Now, now watch what you say or your little friend could get accidentally burned." He moved the flame in front of Katara's face and she tried to shrink away but he kept her still with his arm around her waist.
Aang twirled his staff and stood it in front of himself. "Ok then what do you want?" asked Aang even though he knew the answer already.
"You come with me and your friend won't get burned," growled the prince. Whoosh. Clank. And Zuko fell forward losing his grip on Katara and falling into the shallow river.
"Come on you guys. We gotta go," said Sokka as he jogged over to get his boomerang. He didn't have to tell Aang and Katara. They all ran to the camp and found all the stuff on Appa and Toph waiting for them to get on. They all clambered onto Appa and just as Katara got on did Zuko appear in the clearing with several guards.
"Yip, yip," said Aang to his flying bison. Appa thrust off of the ground and started to fly away.
Prince Zuko decided to give them a few gifts before they left and said, " Fire!" A few dozen red-feathered arrows flew toward the group. Most missed but one or two got Appa who groaned in pain and one arrow found its mark. It was a special black-feathered arrow that Prince Zuko shot himself. All Aang knew after he heard "Fire!" was a red-hot searing pain in his left shoulder, darkness, and the sense of falling.
Aang woke up slowly. His whole body ached for some odd reason. Then he felt the pain. His left shoulder felt like it was on fire or that Appa had stepped on it. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the tent he was in. He turned his head to the side and saw Katara kneeling near him asleep. Aang moved his left hand to wake her but instantly regretted it. He moaned and turned his head again so he was looking up again. Then Katara's face was in front of his looking down at him with deep concern.
"Here this should help a bit," said Katara. She took a few leaves from a pouch she had and added them to some warm water she had. She mixed it into a dull green paste and pulled down the blanket that covered him so she could see the wounded shoulder. She smeared it on his shoulder and he gasped from pain. "Sorry, sorry. It's supposed to sting a bit but it'll help heal the wound."
"Katara…?" whispered Aang. He looked over at her but she put her finger to his lips.
"Shhh. You shouldn't talk. You need to rest and save your strength," said Katara.
"What happened?" whispered Aang. Katara shook her head and set to work washing Aang's shirt, which he noticed had blood on it. "Katara?" whispered Aang again.
Katara sighed sadly and set aside the bloody shirt. "I don't think I should tell you Aang. You're still healing."
"Katara what happened," whispered the hurt 12-year-old.
"You were shot by Prince Zuko with a black-feathered arrow. It had a strange powder on it that seems to make the wound slow to heal," said Katara sadly as she watched Aang to see how he took the news.
Aang could tell she was holding something back but didn't ask. He rolled over onto his good shoulder with his back to her. Then he realized the blood on his shirt was his. He soon fell asleep into a dream less sleep.
Katara sat there for a while watching the young airbender until she was sure that he was asleep again. She grabbed a wooden bowl and a clean cloth and walked toward a nearby pond. She walked past Toph and Sokka who were playing a game of stones. And naturally Toph was winning. Katara smiled as she went past them and walked down a forest path to the pool.
When she got there she noticed how beautiful it looked when the sun's rays hit the pool. There were dragonflies darting across the water like skipping stones and the reeds reflected on the royal blue of the water. She went over and bended some of the cleanest water into her bowl so she could use it later to wash Aang's wound. Then in an instant she was inside a grass woven cage. Through the slits between the grass she saw a girl walk out of the shadows of the trees and stand in front of Katara. The girl didn't look older than 12 and had light brown hair cut short. Then with a slight hand movement the grass started to close in on Katara. The grass threatened to suffocate her.
"Please let me go," pleaded Katara, "I have a wounded friend and I need to be with him. He probably won't make it if I'm not there to help him."
The girl looked like she was thinking for a bit and with a wave of her hand the grass retreated to its normal length. Katara looked at the grass in amazement then saw that the girl had melted back into the shadows. Katara shook her head, gathered her things and walked back to camp.
When Katara got back she went to check on Aang and saw he was still sleeping. She set down the bowl of water and set to cleaning his wound. Aang moaned a bit but kept sleeping. Then she heard a commotion outside. She grabbed her water skin and flew out of the tent ready to fight. She saw Sokka in a woven cage made of grass and saw the girl she had seen earlier, but she had several plants with her. Toph was off to the side waiting to see what would happen. The girl walked over to Katara and stepped into the tent. Katara was worried about Aang and wanted to see what the girl would do. Katara followed the girl and found her kneeling by Aang mixing the plants into a white paste. She smeared it onto the wound. Aang didn't even flinch but kind of sighed in relief.
"Let me see the arrow that pierced him," said the girl as she held out her hand. She didn't take her eyes off of Aang to see how he was doing. Katara placed the ill-fated arrow into the girl's outstretched hand. The girl looked at it closely from the metal arrowhead to the black-feather fletching. She rubbed her forefinger along the shaft and sniffed whatever came off on it. "Badum powder and lacium. Enough badum for its effect to last 5 days. And the lacium makes the wound heal more slowly than it would without," stated the girl.
"What does badum do?" asked Katara. She had never heard of it before.
The girl blinked slowly at her for a few seconds and replied, "Badum takes away any bending you may have."