"Aang, we're not even sure she exists."
It is an overcast day, the sun refusing to peek out from behind the clouds. The one talking is Sokka to a strong-willed Aang, sprawled out on a couch.
"So? What if she does exist and we never rescued her." Aang says sternly. The 'she' that they are referring to is a girl of an unknown name. Aang had heard tale of a strange girl held captive somewhere deep within the Fire Nation. Of course, the person who told Aang this information was a short old man with a funny eye; hence the reason Sokka is a little skeptic.
"Note your keywords: 'what' and 'if'. Say she doesn't exist. We would've wasted our time and our food." Sokka rebuts. Is a may-or-may-not-exist girl worth the trip?
"We can at least check." Aang says, standing up and reaching for his staff. Sokka groans loudly. He and Aang have been going back and forth about whether to go or not, and truthfully, he's sick of it. Suddenly, the door opens and the chocolate-skinned Katara pokes her head through.
"Did you guys decide yet?"
"Yeah. We're going." Aang confirms. Sokka just groans louder than before, knowing he has no input in Aang's decision. Katara retreats from the door to get the others of Team Avatar. Ignoring Sokka's outbursts, Aang strides toward the slightly ajar door
They were going no matter what. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if the girl was allowed to suffer more on his terms.
"Do you even know what she looks like?" Zuko asks, his hair coming alive with the wind. He agrees with Sokka; this whole trip could be a waste if the girl doesn't even exist. Aang nods.
"The old man told me she looks around 15 or 16. She has jet black hair and is really pale." Zuko snorts in disbelief.
"How would he know so much about her? How do you know he's not making it up?" Toph speaks up.
"As much as I don't really wanna say it, King-boy here has a point. The idea seems really far fetched." Toph yawns and stretches, flopping over to her back and sighing in contentment.
Whatever. Aang thinks. They're wrong.
"Anyway," Katara says, shooting daggers at Zuko with her gaze, "do you know exactly where we're going?" Aang nods again.
"In fact…" Aang glances down and spots the island the old man told him about. It's of a weird, oblong shape, if one would call even call it a shape. One 'yip yip!' later, and Appa serves down to the right towards the land mass. He lands in a couple of seconds, small debris clearing out from the tiny whirlwind of air.
But the skies soon become the obvious better choice, as it is nearly impossible to see more than three feet in any direction due to thick fog.
"And of course it's a scenario where we're gonna be lost within thirty seconds." Sokka whines. Aang dismissively waves his hand to Sokka's comment.
"I figured out our course from the skies. We just walk straight and soon we'll reach where she located." Toph shakes her head at Aang's statement, the motion not visible in the haze.
"Nuh uh guys, hold on." Toph says, stopping. She takes to one knee and plants her hand on the earth, concentrating. "Something's directly below us." Aang knows better than to get his hopes up, but he can't help but whopping for joy silently inside his imagination.
Toph holds her hands and stabs her toughened heel at the ground, the earth opening up before her into a serious of steps leading downwards. She waves her hand and motions the others to follow, the motion barely noticeable.
Down and down they go, the light dimming the further they go. Aang glances back at the Fire Lord.
"Hey, Zuko, could you –"
Zuko catches Aang's hint and fire erupts from his palm, illuminating the path in an orange glow.
"Thanks." But Aang soon starts to regret asking for light. The path had widened to reveal the sickly, deep cavern they were now walking in, the crystal walls covered in muck and grime. He can nearly hear Katara cringing as her hand, once using the wall as a way to balance herself, now recoils to her side.
"Anything, Toph?" Aang asks. Toph shakes her head, a bit frustrated at not sensing any extra humans.
"Zip, unless you wanna count the rats."
"R-rats?" Katara says shakily, now glancing around her, checking for the supposed rats. Like she wanted any of those things touching her.
Aang, in the meanwhile, hung his head low. He prayed that he didn't drag his friend all the way to an unknown island he wasn't even sure had existed to go save a girl he, again, isn't even sure exists.
The thing that drives him is that the girl might exist, that she might be held in a dingy cage with little to zero food, that she might be on the brink of death – and Aang had just sat back and did nothing on the notion that she might have not existed.
The Avatar can not simply live with that fighting in his conscience.
"Aang?" Katara called out attentively. Aang didn't answer.
"I don't think anyone's here, other than us."
Aang stops suddenly, nearly causing Katara, who's trailing right behind him, to nearly crash to a stop. She lets out an 'ow!'
"You're right Katara." Aang says, his voice taking on a hopelessly sad tone to it. He does a complete 180 and starts walking back.
"Sorry for dragging you guys out here to find someone that doesn't even exist." The other cast worried glances at each other. In all truth, Aang was just doing his job as a protector. There was always a chance the girl did exist, really.
But a clear voice rings out that stops Aang dead in his tracks.
"Everything exists, Avatar. You just need to know where to look."