"Hey, Aang. That looks like a good place to stop!" Katara chimed in.
"I don't know… it's not on the map," Sokka blurted out.
"Is Kyoshi Island on the map?"
"No."
"Then we go! Besides, how bad could one small island be?"
The island really was as small as it looked from the air. As the bison groaned in content and immediately went to sleep, the gang unpacked their stuff. But, as quick as a dragondillo could roll up, their mouths were muffled, and soon they were tied with ropes and knocked unconscious.
Katara shook her head and stood up, realizing that she was in a large metal room, stripped of her water pouch, and Aang's staff was missing. Sokka was nowhere to be seen, and there were eleven figures in black cloaks. The leader, apparently, could easily be identified by the blue hood instead of the other ten black hoods.
"Who are you, where's Sokka, and what do you want?" Aang shouted to them.
"Pass this test, and you and your friends will go free. Your friend was an oaf; we could tell by the way he talked when you landed on our island. Therefore, he is disqualified."
"Disqualified? What is this, a game?" Katara demanded.
Another figure chuckled and shook his head side to side. "If you call gambling between life and death 'games', then I suppose so."
"Death? What do you mean?"
A third voice, this one old and hoarse, spoke up. "The rules are simple. We will test you on your knowledge. If you pass, you move on to the next 'level'. There are a total of five levels, each one using different techniques to get the answer. If you fail, however, on any of the levels, you will, as you kids say it, 'die.'"
"Enough!" The one with the blue hood raised his hand, completely covered by robe. "This starts now. Phase one; you must interpret the meanings of these phrases. There will be eleven total. Get eight of these right, and you will move on. Get less than eight, you will die. You don't want to find out how."
"Oh yes, and we know about your abilities, Avatar. So, if you or your waterbending friend tries to attack us in any way possible or imaginable, the oaf dies- and you get to see him die right in front of you. So I suggest you pay heed to our warning."
"Also, to give people a fair chance, since the last pair that came didn't have a prayer, we've decided to give you two days. The prisoner, the lemur, and the bison will be fed and handled properly. You may discuss it with each other, but you may only stay in the room we give you. Everything you need to live is in there."
Aang clenched his teeth, and Katara's eyes were filled with pure hatred- and fear.
"Let us begin."
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"If you are perfect, you have not yet reached perfection."
"Pulling perfect teeth will make your teeth perfect."
"Perfection, without a doubt, simply isn't perfect if you perfect it."
"Hanging on to life means that life hangs on for you."
"Death is something even God cannot stop; Life is something even the Devil cannot stop. But the one thing that they both cannot stop is the ability to make you know the difference between life and death."
"Eyesight is not for seeing things."
"No one can teach anything if something is not taught."
"No one can learn anything if something is not learned."
"When times are dark, you look for light."
"We have hands and feet for a reason, and it is not for the reason you think it is."
"Thinking will only lead to disaster."
"You have 48 hours. Your room is on the far right side of this hall. Time is ticking."
With that, the hooded figures turned and disappeared through a door, and the two headed to their room. Inside were one bed, a table with fruit and water, and a small stall, which appeared to be the bathroom.
"Hey, maybe I can use the water from the shower to get us free!" Katara exclaimed.
"Remember their warning, Katara. Don't, or Sokka might…"
"Oh yea, I forgot…" Then, without warning, Katara fell on the bed, and a single tear shed her eye. "What if we don't make it out? The whole world is depending on you, Aang."
"We will, Katara. And that is why we have to get started right now." Aang grabbed an apple, threw a pear to Katara, and began to read aloud the first line, which was inscribed on the metal wall.
"If you are perfect, you have not yet reached perfection…"
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I am leaving this up for a while until my next update, and for this one, the readers (that's you) have to try and guess the meaning of these phrases. The story could go two ways: either you people out there get 8 interpretations correct, and the story goes on, or the ladder is you don't get 8 interpretations correct, and the story will twist and turn.
Good luck trying to solve these! (you can make an educated guess, as long as you try!)
I gave these to my friend, and he figured out five... and three were correct answers. Many of these are hard, so don't expect them to be a piece of pie! When I have sensed that everyone has tried, I will update.