Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR OR THE CHARACTERS. Duh. I do however own anyone in this story who is not in the show. Duh, again.
This is my first attempt at actually writing a story for Avatar, so if you are going to review, nothing mean please! Constructive critisism is welcome if you must, but if you want more, or if you think that I'm doing an "okay" job, then let me know, so I can write more! Feedback is always appriciated. If you don't like the story, you don't have to say anything. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. Sorry if you get confused or whatnot, I occasionally forget certain details. And, sorry for any "fluff". Can't help it! I'm a girl, writing a sort of romance peice! Read on!
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It was finally morning, the bright sun peirced through the clouds, the light waking up Katara. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and jumped a little as Appa snorted in his sleep. With a yawn, she got up and walked over to a small circle of rocks covered in black ash, where the gang's campfire had been last night. Normally, it would be too risky for them to light a campfire so near to the Fire Nation, but the area that Appa had landed in for the night was well hidden in the forest, but to Katara's dismay, there wasn't any ponds, lakes, or rivers in sight, so she couldn't practice her water bending. Mo Mo screeched, causing her to turn around, seeing that Appa had almost rolled over on the poor lemur. Aang was sleeping peacefully next to Appa, nothing disturbing his rest, and Sokka was tossing and turning, seeming to be in an uncomfortable sleep. Suddenly, there were voices...Katara had been sure that there were no other people for miles, but she heard them. It didn't sound like an army, but she was still a little frightened. Being so close to Fire Nation Territory was dangerous. Anyone could be out there.
"Sokka! Sokka!" She whispered hoarsly to her brother, who didn't seem to hear her. Quickly, she grabbed a small rock and threw it at him, causing him to sit up abruptly and look up at the sky, rubbing his head.
"Ow...what?! Why did you-" Sokka began, but Katara hushed him, and he spoke softer. "Aang...wake up. Katara is being weird." He muttered, watching Mo Mo bouncing up and down on Aang to help awaken him. But, at the sound of Katara's name, Aang sat straight up, then crossed his arms seeing the two staring at him.
"Guys, please don't fight. I know its a sibling thing, but-" Aang started to say but Katara hushed him as well. Sokka glanced over at Aang with an "I-told-you-so" look.
"Listen..." Katara said quietly. They were silent for a moment, then they heard them. They were not alone. Although the voices weren't close, they weren't terribly far either, and they could barely make out what the two people were saying.
"I know what I'm doing!" Came a clearly female voice, which sounded aggitated. Then a deeper, male voice replied.
"No you don't! If you run around with weapons so carelessly, you're bound to injure someone...Mera...put the dagger down!"
"You are so infuriating! I wasn't going to stab you, sheesh!" Came the female voice again. Aang laughed a little, thinking that it sounded a lot like Katara and Sokka when they fought. But he grew serious again as the voices got closer, and they could now hear the footsteps of the two people. Sokka stood up quickly, grabbing his boomerang and standing in a fighting stance, ready to attack. Katara stood beside him, wondering how she would fight, and now they knew that the people coming closer had a dagger. Aang stood in front, waiting for the strangers to enter the clearing. If they were fire benders, he knew he'd probably be able to fight them, if there were only two. He hoped that was all...
"Mera, if there was a huge, flying bison flying around the sky last night, don't you think we..." Came the voice of the man, suddenly appearing out of the nearby bushes. He looked startled, seeing Appa and everyone standing there, looking at him. He hadn't expected that his sister had really seen a flying bison. Aang stared at the man, studying him quickly. He didn't look like a fire bender at all...he was wearing plain clothes, carrying a bow and arrow and had a worn and faded breast plate on. He had sounded much older than he looked though. Aang guessed he was probably a little older than Sokka. Then, the girl appeared, the one with the dagger. She stepped out of the thick bushes, dusting herself off, not even noticing the strangers.
"You know, there was a path! Why don't we take the path...we always have to do it the hard way." She said, bumping into her brother as he halted abruptly, holding out his arm as if to protect her.
"Who are you? If you're of the Fire Nation, our villiage has already supplied your troops. We have nothing left to give." Said the boy, looking warily at Aang. Aang's eyes widened. They weren't Fire Nation, which was always a good sign. But, learning from past expiriences, Aang knew that a lot of the people in the world now were corrupted. But Sokka spoke up first, clearly angry at being accused of having anything to do with the Fire Nation.
"We're not Fire Nation! And, its none of your business who we are anyways! We're just travelers with a ten ton bison who will crush anyone in our way!" Sokka said bravely, looking back at Appa who had rolled over onto his back, wanting someone to pet him. Sokka groaned and slapped his forehead.
"Easy there, ponytail." Said the boy, still studying the group. "We're not going to hurt anyone. We just didn't expect anyone to be around here. My sister said she had seen a flying buffalo...er...bison, so we went to check it out. If you're not here to do us any harm-" But the boy's sister interupted him, pushing his arm out of the way.
"You're the Avatar! I thought so! I knew it! I told you!" She said happily, poking her brothers sholder and grinning. Sokka stared at the girl, realizing she was actually kind of cute...but Aang stepped forward, before Sokka could say anything else.
"Yes, I am the Avatar. My name's Aang." He said politely, giving a slight bow. Katara spoke up next.
"Sorry about my brother, here. Hes very paranoid." She said, smiling as Sokka scowled. "I'm Katara, and this is, like I said, my brother, Sokka." She elbowed Sokka in the ribs, and he winced, raising his hand slightly.
"Its truely an honor to meet you, Avatar Aang, and your friends. I'm Sheng, and this is my sister, Mera. Our villiage has been talking about the return of the Avatar, but we never dreamed you would show up here, in this area. Its a little dangerous if you don't care for fire benders." Said the boy, Sheng, with a small smile. Mera nodded in agreement, her green eyes shimmering with excitement.
"A lot of people didn't believe you had really returned! I was sure you had, and the last night, I saw the..." She pointed at Appa, and Aang said quickly, "Appa". Mera nodded again, continuing. "I saw the Appa, and I knew it had to be you! Only the air benders had flying animals, or so thats what we've been told. Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Mera walked toward them, smiling kindly. "Do you need a place to stay...or...a bath..." She crinkled her nose as she neared Sokka, who blushed and frowned. "We have room in our villiage, and we'd be honored if you'd stay with us!" Sheng nodded, agreeing with his sister. "We don't have much, but its better than staying out here." He said. Aang turned to Katara and Sokka, looking expectantly at them both.
"Well, what do you think? Should we?" Aang asked. Sokka was still scowling.
"I don't know...they could be fire benders, or work for them for all we know. We'd be walking right into a trap..." Sokka mumbled, glancing at his sister. Katara shook her head.
"They seem nice...and we could use a lot of things. We're almost out of food-" She began, but Sokka cut her off.
"Food?! Well, lets go gang! Times a wasting!" Sokka said, suddenly cheerfully, then looked over at Mera and Sheng again. "You do have food right?" They both nodded, a little confused. "Well, then its settled, lets go! I'm starving..." Sokka said, grabbing his things. Katara and Aang shrugged, helping him gather up their campsite. If it were a trap, Aang was pretty sure that they could get out of it like they usually did. And of course, they couldn't deny free food and shelter.
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Hope its an understandable beginning! I'm currently writing the next bit. Any reviews would be lovely! .