I've always loved Avatar. I don't own the rights of Avatar...I wish I did but I don't. I want to give a special thanks to my friend makosharkman who co-authored & helped inspire this story. This is an alternate version of The Headband.
The Fire Nations outer islands were always a comfortable area
The outer islands of the Fire nation were always a comfortable area to vacation to. Fire Nation soldiers, Commanders, Admirals, even the Fire Lords top advisors would comment that other than Ember Island, those were the perfect vacation spots. Each Island had it's own uniqueness that made a vacationer feel a sense of joy, also it was rumored that, like Ember Island, the outer islands would help you find yourself, a friend or someone special. It was a wonderful paradise to retire too and it was a peaceful place where one could raise a family.
As a boy Shan had always loved going to the islands. Every summer when his father was on shore leave he would always take his mother and him there. His Father always made sure that they had a beach house that was right at the shoreline. The beach was Shan's favorite part of the vacation. He enjoyed making sand castles, lying in the sun and, of course, all the swimming.
But that was such a long time ago. Shane was now an adult, and had a family of his own. Now it was his turn to show his family paradise. They arrived last night but already his family adapted nicely, he was glad to see that. He stood on his patio waiting to see another glorious sunrise. He had come here so many times that he mentally calculated when the sun rose to when it set. "Two minutes." He could already see the light on the horizon. Smiling happily he counted down the seconds, so excited he could hardly catch his breath "One minute".
Maybe he'd wake up his wife and make her watch this magical moment. "Thirty-seconds" This was it, the moment he had been waiting for. "Three…two...one." There it was the sun's rays soared over the ocean surface reflecting its brightness. Shan breathed in, stretching out his tired limbs another glorious sunrise. He stared at the sun for a while longer then looked at the clouds. Then he noticed something odd; He saw a small little white cloud fall from the sky, heading towards one of the islands on the opposite side of his. He raised an eyebrow "Is that real or am I imagining it?" He rubbed his eyes then looking back only to see that it had disappeared. He looked around for the cloud for about ten minutes before finally calling quits. "I have better things to do than to look for some silly cloud."
The mysterious white cloud scudded rapidly over the water heading towards the rocky portion of the islands beach. "I think I see a cave below," a voice emanated from the cloud.
"Shhush... keep quiet!" cut in a charismatic yet slightly annoying voice. The cloud hovered over to the nearest cave. Then the cloud quickly dissipated in a huge swirl of airbending revealing a large ten-ton flying bison with four children on it's back. The earth shook violently as the bison plopped itself on the ground.
Sokka was the first to jump off. He looked around the area suspiciously then did a furtive reconnaissance. He took cover behind the nearest rock peering over it to make sure no one was behind it. "Great job with the cloud camo but next time let's disguise ourselves as a cloud who knows how to keep its mouth shut." Sokka peered over the rock again, being ever so mindful of his surroundings. Toph shook her head annoyingly, with Aang, and Katara watching Sokka's antics. "Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in." Sokka immediately turned around, his finger pointing accusingly. "Hey! We're in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds." He pointed upward to four birds perched on the rock above him. One hopped down onto Sokka's head, squawking insultingly at him. The kids all shared a laugh, Sokka scowled unamused he shooed the bird away. Aang, Katara and Toph walked into the cave with Sokka dragging close behind. Sokka, suddenly, remembered his reconnaissance. He had to check to make sure it was clear he leapt over the all their heads and landed face first into the dirt. Sokka ignored the pain as he rolled to his feet peering all around. He turned around, addressing everyone "Well, this is it. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins, hiding in cave after cave...after cave...after cave..." Sokka nodded his head satisfied with this plan. However Sokka and his plans almost never flew well with the group. Katara folded her arms, her eyebrow raised questionably. "Sokka, we don't need to become cave people. What we need is some new clothes." She looked at the others to see if they agreed with her. As usual Aang was the first to agree with her. " Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out. If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave." Aang gestured to his clothes, smiling sheepishly.
"Plus...they have real food out there. Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt eating cave-hoppers?" Toph said punching the cave wall. The wall shook slightly and out jumped several cave hoppers. Momo caught one and began chowing down on it. The spectacle unfolding revolted the kids. Momo glared at them, tilting his head confused at their reactions.
Sokka put his head down defeated. "Nobody ever wants to follow my plans." He sighed miserably glancing at Momo, who was finished eating his first cave hopper, "Looks like we got out voted, sport." He turned to the group. "Let's get some new clothes." With that they all exited the cave. Momo grabbed one more cave hopper before following them.
The group walked a short distance. "Going into the nearest town might be dangerous even going near one might…" Sokka was lost in thought. He always worried about these things. He knew if they where discovered they would be able to handle it but fighting an entire nation, within a nation, well that was just suicide. His thoughts where interrupted when he noticed a weird cluster of white smoke over the next hill. "Come on!" Sokka motioned for them to follow him as he started running up the hill.
The Fire Nation's laundry system was very complex and reliable. Laundry attendant's had no other job than to wash clothes. They were very detail oriented in their work and the cloths were always impeccably clean. The clothes after being thoroughly washed were hung on clotheslines letting nature do the rest. The lines were suspended over steam vents and the winds on this mountaintop would dry the clothes quickly while the stem vents would keep them wrinkles free. The drying process took hours to complete leaving the attendant a good amount of free time. You could read, practice your nations martial arts, or you could just sleep. The laundry's lone attendant was doing the ladder. He napped in the doorway to laundry room. The kids advantage of this and made their move. As Aang surveyed the long lines of clothes he felt concerned, "I don't know about this, these clothes belong to people." Aang knew that he was many things but not a thief. This was a new experience for him and gave him a small ache in his gut.
"I call the silk robe!" Katara screamed as she leaped from the cover of the boulder, grabbing for her 'prize' from the line. Aang smiled the pain in his stomach now gone, "but if it's essential to our survival...then I call the suit!" Aang ran to grab his new duds as Katara helped Toph find suitable clothes for her self. Sokka went through a variety of clothes before finally finding a pair that suited him. Aang took a small headband from the line, tying it tightly around his head to conceal his arrow. He turned around with a wide grin on his face. "Ta-dah! Normal kid."
Toph felt a little uncomfortable with her new shoes, true they were comfortable, but she could hardly see in them. She could sense a few vibrations like Sokka and Katara's but could hardly see Aang, as his vibrations were so small. "Sorry shoes" she said as she sat down and pulled on the shoes until the sole's popped out exposing her foot. The sole's flew towards Sokka's face hitting his face with a loud popping sound. "Aw" Sokka said silently. Toph stood up and evaluated her new customized footwear. She smirked, "finally, a stylish shoe for the blind earthbender." Aang smiled at Sokka's misfortune as the sole slowly slide off his face.
"How do I look?" Katara asked hoping that her new look didn't make her too noticeable. Unfortunately it was very noticeable for one particular person. Aang turned around to see a beauty that was beyond all imagination. He blushed the instant he saw her. She was so beautiful. He had always felt a strange happiness whenever he was around her. For a long time he had wanted to tell her how he truly felt but every time he did either something distracting would happen or he would get so nervous he'd melt in place. Still being with her was the greatest moment of his life. He examined her outfit head to toe and noticed one small object that didn't fit with the look. "Uh...your mom's necklace." He reluctantly pointed out. Katara was shocked her face quickly went into a depressed glance "Oh...oh, yeah. I guess it's pretty obviously water tribe, isn't it?" With much hesitation she removed it. She held it in her palm as memories of her mother filled her mind, and the day she was taken from her during the fire nation raid on her village. Tears began to swell up in her eyes. She looked away quickly. Sokka gestured at his new clothes then point forward. "Well Gang now that we have our new clothes lets find ourselves some food" he walked into the direction of the nearest town. Toph followed Sokka lifting her arms high into the air. " Yes food."
Katara nodded her head as she followed, head down and full despair. She wiped a single tear that ran down her face. She jumped when she felt someone's hand touch her shoulder blade. She quickly turned to see Aang, who had a concerned look on his face. "Katara you alright"
Katara smiled. "Same old Aang… Always they're to help those forget their sad memories. " She wiped her tears away. "I'm fine come on." She grabbed his hand and the two of them quickened their pace. The kids entered the nearest town. Some were slightly nervous that some one might notice them especially Sokka, who was eyeballing everyone in the town. However no one paid them any mind. Whenever a person looked at them they would go back to whatever it was they where doing. To the towns people these where just another group of kids. Katara noticed a nearby bazaar that sold more fire-themed trinkets. She quickly ran over, purchasing a necklace. Sokka bought a topknot clasp, Toph got a new headband, and Aang smoothed out Momo's ears before tucking him beneath his coat. Aang had been in the fire nation before, so he felt confident that he could blend in well. He remembered the times when he and Kuzon would hang out together. Of course it was much different then. "I used to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago. So everyone just follow my lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the Fire Nation: Stay flamin!" He sauntered out into the main road of the market place; the kids followed watching his movements closely. "Greetings, my good Hotman.' Aang said waving to the first man he walked past.
"Uh, hi. I guess?" the man said completely surprised. Sokka saw the mans surprised look. "Aang's lingo is a little out of date." Sokka then saw over a butchers shop out of the corner of his eye. He could smell the rich aroma of cooked meat. His mouth watered with joy.
"This way guy's." Sokka lead the way to the butcher's shop. They where just about to enter when Aang replied, "Oh, we're going to a meat place?"
Sokka looked back at Aang, mentally kicking himself for not remembering that Aang didn't eat meat. However, he had come way to close to turn away now. Even right now at that moment he could taste the sweet rich and spiciness of a grilled cow-hippo with hot rice. "Come on, Aang. Every one here eats meat...even the meat!" He pointed to a nearby cow-hippo, greedily scavenging a huge pile of meat chunks.
Aang suppressed a gag, as a swell of disgust came to mind. "You guys go ahead. I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage." Aang waited till they entered before turning around dispensing affable greetings to his new countrymen. " Hotman. Hotman. Hotman. Hotman. Hotman." He continued his 'Good Samaritan' greetings until he noticed three official-looking figures approach him.
"It's over, we caught you." the commanding officer said with a trace of disgust in his voice. Aang pointed to his chest "Who me?" as he gulped nervously. The officer looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"It couldn't be more obvious that you don't belong here." Aangs eye's cringing as he began to expect the worst. The fire nation officers grabbed him by his arms and pulled him away "Next time you play hooky, you might want to take off your school uniform." Aang opened his eyes and looked at the commanding officer. " What?"
The officers entered a large schoolyard. Aang noticed that in the center stood a white stoned statue of Fire a Lord Ozai. Aang was impressed with its craftsmanship; he had never known what the Fire Lord looked like until now. He had finally seen his enemies face. His astonishment was short lived as the officers pulled him into the building, they went down a series of corridors until they finally stopped at one of them, swinging open the door, they forcefully threw him in. Aang had to steady himself to prevent from falling. He looked up to see a classroom full of students all staring back at him. Aang just stared back, wondering what was going to happen next. The Teacher walked towards him, her face was as wrinkled as a plum. She frowned disappointingly at the unexpected intrusion. She looked from the officers down to Aang then raised an eyebrow "Oh! Is this a new mind ready for molding?"
Aang smiled trying to remain calm. "That's right…" He knocked himself on the head to indicate his lack of contents. "Let the molding begin." The Teacher examined his features carefully.
"Wait a minute! You're not from the Fire Nation!" The Teacher slowly approached Aang examining him more closely. Aang froze trying to steady his breathing. He stood ready to airbend if they found out who he was. He would have to get out of there fast. The teacher examined him head to toe with a critical eye. "Clearly you're from the colonies."
Aang's eye's widened then he smiled slightly deciding to go along with it. "Oh… Yeah, the Colonies. Of course, the Fire Nation Colonies in the Earth Kingdom." The teacher shook her head disgusted "Your etiquette is terrible. In the homeland we bow to our elders, like so." She bowed her head, making a fist with her right hand, holding her left hand open and pointed upward; the palm was perpendicular to her body. She then and brought her two hands together so that the infolded right index finger just touched the base of her left palm. The effect looked like a small, stylized flame.
"Sorry ma'am." Aang attempted the salute, but with not much success. The teacher tapped his fist with her ferrule. Aang looked around the classroom for help. A girl in the front row caught his eye. She looked at the teacher making sure she wasn't seen and demonstrated the proper technique. Aang smiled, his second attempt was more successful and the Teacher nodded her approval. "And we don't wear head coverings indoor's." She said tapping his head.
Aang put his hand behind his head looking away shamefully. "Um, I have a scar. It's really embarrassing." She nodded understandingly "Very well. What is your name? Or should we just call you, Manner less Colony Slob?" Aang chuckled. "Just Slob is fine." He paused slightly for effect. No one laughed." Or, uh... Kuzon." He turned to face the class with a friendly smile on his face.
The school bells screamed loudly throughout the building. The kids shouted joyfully as they left the school. Aang walked out trying not to make himself noticed. He pulled open his jacket, whispering to Momo, "We made it through the day, Momo and It was pretty fun!"
"Don't let the headmaster catch you with that monkey." said a calm, gentle voice from behind. Aang quickly pushed Momo back into his jacket, before turning around to see a girl standing right behind him. "Wh…What monkey?" he said trying to make it look like he wasn't doing anything. The girl smiled amusingly "Don't worry, I'm not a tattletale. Kuzon was it? That's grandfathers name." Aang tried to look surprised. "Really?"
The girl nodded. "My names Onji. I like your headband by the away." Aang smiled he was going to reply when a tall Fire Nation boy suddenly jostled him from behind. The boy placed his arm over Onji, who turned her head away from him when he placed his arm around her, the boy glared at Aang.
The boy scoffed disgusted. "Onji you don't have to baby-sit the new kid." His voice was contemptuous and rude. Aang could tell just by his voice that this one was full of himself. He quickly remembered his manners he bowed, Fire Nation style, to the boy. "Wow…you must be one of those popular kids I've been hearing about."
The Boy smiled at the compliment. "That's right. The names Hide and when schools over I'm in charge here. Now listen closely, friend...I know you're from the colonies, so I'll say this slowly." Hide enunciated carefully, getting into Aang's face as he did so. "Onji...is...my...girlfriend. Don't forget it." He poked Aang in the chest Momo stirred in complaint beneath Aang's jacket. Aang smoothed Momo down, grinning nervously at Hide's suspicious glare. Hide brought his index and middle finger at his eyes and then pointed them back at Aang. With that he turned and walked away dragging Onji away. "It was nice meeting you." Aang said waving goodbye to Onji.
"I don't believe it. He didn't beat you up. Not even a little." A boy replied approaching Aang, who looked at him modestly, " Well I guess I'm just lucky." The kid motioned to the group of friends right behind him. "We were on our way to play hide-and-explode. You wanna come?" Aang smiled happily at the invitation. "I'd love to!"
Aang ran back to the cave smiling and laughing excitedly. He had just gotten through a fire nation class, and was invited to play with some kids. During there game they treated him like a normal person. This was one of the many moments he missed from his child hood. To be accepted as a normal person, to be treated like everyone else with no special treatment.
It was already dark by the time he returned to the cave, his face and clothes were covered with scorch marks. He slide down the roof of the cave to the entrance and walked in to see the rest of the gang sitting around a campfire.
Katara looked relieved that he was back. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"
"I got invited to play with some kids after school." Aang replied untying his headband. Sokka bolted to his feet in surprise, arms flailing about "After what?" Aang smiled happily. "I enrolled in a Fire Nation school and…" he placed his hands on his hips and proudly and declared, " I'm going back tomorrow." Sokka's jaw dropped he was at a loss for words at what he was hearing. "Enrolled in what?!" he was finally able to mouth out before losing feeling in his legs. He keeled over, falling hard on his back.
Aang briefly explained what happened. Sokka and the others listened closely and were impressed at how he had gotten through the day without getting noticed. Aang breathed as he concluded his story.
"Aang, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea. But it sounds...really terrible." Sokka said to Aang from across the campfire. Toph was equally curious. "Yeah, we got our outfits. What do you need to go to school for?" Aang tried to explain so they could understand it from his point of view. "Every minute I'm in that classroom. I'm learning new things about the fire nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai that I got from the cafeteria…." He picked up a portrait of the Fire Lord. Sokka noticed that the there was tearing around the face as if someone had ripped the face portion off of something but ignored the question on how that happened.
"And here's one that I made out of noodles!" Aang said as he displayed his masterpiece to everyone. The noodle portrait was a spot on match to the original Sokka found his work impressive. He rested his chin on his hands. "Impressive, I'll admit. But I still think it's too dangerous." Aang looked away he then raised and lowered his shoulders "I guess we'll never find out about the secret river then. It goes right to the Fire Lord's palace. We were supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow." Aang smiled charismatically. Sokka knew now that he couldn't talk Aang out of it. He knew Aang long enough to know that if he said no Aang would just do it anyway. He tried to sound interested " Hmm... I am a fan of secret rivers. Fine, let's stay a few more days." Aang jumped up happily "Flamey-o, Hotman!" He ran off in excitement.
" Flamey-o?" Sokka said turning to his sister who just shrugged her shoulders "Mmm-mm?"
Aang chose the seat he sat in the previous day when he entered the classroom. He was so excited to be back that he could hardly sit still. The children rose to there feet when the teacher entered.
"Good morning class, oh a reminder if you know of the person or persons responsible for tearing the face portion off the portrait of Fire Lord Ozai in the cafeteria; please report him or her immediately." With that she smacked her ferrule on her desk. "Now recite the Fire Nation oath." The children stood up, turning to face a larger-than-life portrait of Fire Lord Ozai, which dominated the rear wall of the room. They all bowed Fire Nation style and began reciting, speaking in unison: "My life, I give to my country. With my hands, I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him with my mind, I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet may the march of civilization continue…"
Aangs eye's widened as he tried to follow along "Fire Lord...forefathers... Firebenders...Fire Lord...blah, blah, blah, blah." The children stopped reciting and began giggling helplessly at his shenanigans.
The Teacher, however, was not amused and scowled angrily. The kids turned and sat down the teacher rose and struck her scroll with her ferrule for emphasis. Her tone was calm but stern. "Since it's obviously hilarious to mock our national oath, we'll begin with a pop quiz on our great march of civilization."
The students groaned miserably, taking out there pencils and paper. The teacher glared into her history scroll for a few minutes then addressed the class. "Question one: What year did Fire Lord Sozin battle the Air Nation Army?"
Aang saw the students writing down what they thought the answer was. He raised his hand his face full of puzzlement. The Teacher raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him "Kuzon?"
Aang rose to his feet. "Ma'am is that a trick question? The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military. Sozin defeated them by ambush." Aang heard the sounds of pencils dropping, and gasps throughout the room. He saw the entire class staring, openmouthed, at his statement. The Teachers spoke with a flustered tone "Well, I don't know how you could possibly know more than our national history books. Unless you were there a hundred years ago." Aang frowned embarrassingly "I'll just write down my best guess." Aang quickly sat back down still feeling everyone's eyes looking at him.
The music teacher tapped at his stand, with a wide grin on his face, as the amateur orchestra commenced playing. He winced slightly as the students played their instruments. They were no professionals but they did play pretty well. He found the upper class students had more of a synchronized tune than the younger ones when they played. But this class could definitely play decent music. Then a huge blast of something resembling music exploded throughout the whole classroom drowning out all other sounds. He looked at the top row of the risers, where the noise was emanating from, he saw that Kuzon was blowing full blast into a Tsungi horn, maniacally moving his feet in some weird way. The rest of the class watched, dumbfounded by his antics. The music teacher tilted his head curiously watching him. "Kuzon?"
Aang stopped playing; he nodded slowly "I know. I'm a terrible Tsungi hornet." The Music Teacher waved his hand dismissingly "No, child. That hullabaloo going on with your feet is that a nervous disorder?"
Aang looked at his feet then back at the teacher. "I was just dancing." He saw that once again he had drawn everyone's attention to himself. This was really starting to bother him a bit.
They just stared at him wondering what he was talking about. Aang now addressed the class "You do have dances here in the homeland, right?" he looked around to see if anyone would answer. When his glance went to Onji she replied. "Not really, no."
The Music Teacher walked from his stand towards the window, glancing at the beautiful scenery. "Dancing is not conducive to a proper learning environment. Young people must have rigid discipline and order." His tone was not of a rude one but kind he turned to face Aang hoping that he understood his point. Aang, however, just looked at him as if he was insane. "But what about expressing yourself?" The teacher walked back to his stand, nodding as if he understood. "I know sometimes we're so moved by our love for our nation, that we can't control our own bodies." He was so overcome with emotion he slapped his hand to his face at how stupid he must of sounded and decided to revise the situation. "If you must, you may march in place quietly next time the urge hits you." He tapped on his stand again, the orchestra recommencing its song. Aang looked around for a minute, blowing into his horn quietly. His legs moved slightly but he was not as active as he was earlier. He stopped, looking at the floor pitifully. "Now you have to ask permission to express yourself…"
The bell rang to end another day. The children all ran and scattered throughout the courtyard. As Aang exited the building he saw the kids all-whispering. Aang stared at them as he continued walking. What was going on? Out of the corner of his eye he saw a cluster of children whispering, and looking at him, when they spoke. Aang jumped when he saw Onji standing right in front of him. She smiled shyly "Oh, hi, Kuzon. I really liked that crazy dance you were doing." Aangs eye's widened as he realized now what all the commotion was about. He smiled "Thanks, Onji. I could show it to you again, if you'd like." Suddenly a blast of fire landed right in-between him and Onji. Aang screamed as he jumped out of the way, he turned to see Hide across the yard with smoke coming out of his fists.
"What'd you say, colony trash? You're gonna show her something?" Hide approached them, his eye's burning with hatred. All the kids in the schoolyard began to gather around, forming a big circle around them. Aang didn't want to start a conflict he raised his arms up in the air-letting Hide know he wasn't going to fight him. "I was just going to show Onji some dance movements."
"Nobody shows my Onji anything!" Hide said, putting his face right up to Aang's. Aang then lowered his arms, looking at Hide sternly before replying, "You know she's free to make her own choices. You can't say what she can and cannot do!" There was a loud gasp in the crowd. Hide eye's widened with surprise nobody had ever talked back to him like that. He gritted his teeth and trembled angrily. He threw a full force punch into Aang's right cheek. Aang fell to the ground. He could've avoided it but didn't wat to make another scene.
"Hide stop!" Onji cried out, from the crowd, but Hide ignored her, his full focus was on Aang who was already getting up. Aang stood on one knee, rubbing his cheek trying to make the pain subside.
"Come on colony trash give me your best shot." Hide said lowering his arms allowing him a free hit. Aang spat out a small amount of blood then got to his feet. He stared at Hide shaking his head "No. I won't fight you. There's no need for this." Aang raised his arms again letting him know he wasn't going to attack.
Again Hide was shocked and angry at his reply. Hide screamed uncontrollably as he ran over towards Aang, who just closed his eye's ready for the pain to come. Hide hit him with an uppercut to his jaw, then continued to hit him repeatedly with a barrage of punches to his left and right cheeks, Then Aang felt a fist go right into his stomach. He gasped in pain. Onji was in tears at the horror that was taking place before her. Aang fell to the ground doubling over in pain; Hide then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up to meet his gaze, face to face. Aang's face was covered with bruises there was blood coming out of both his nostrils and his jaw was beginning to feel funny. Hide spat in his face. "I don't ever want you to come near my Onji ever again do you understand me wimp."
"STOP!" Onji screamed as she ran over and slapped Hide in the face, breaking his grip on Aang's collar. Aang fell to the ground too weak to get up. Onji ran to his side, throwing his arm over her head and helping him to his feet. Hide, rubbing his face, looked at her. "Onji what are you…" he stopped talking when Onji shot a venomous glare at him "It's over Hide! I'm not your Onji I'm a girl who just wants to be treated with respect! And you have no respect for anyone but yourself! Your nothing but a big fat jerk!" Again the crowd gasped at the insult. Hide just stood there not believing what he was hearing.
"What's going on here!" A loud voice echoed throughout the schoolyard. The kids cleared a path when they heard the headmaster walking towards the crowd. His eye's twitched slightly when he saw the situation. He looked from Aang to Onji to Hide. His face became hard and stern. "Head master I can explain…" Hide said as he walked over towards him. The Headmaster just raised his hand in silence. Hide stopped walking and talking. "Hide I am ashamed at your behavior towards our new student. True he is from the colonies and has much to learn in regarding our standards in the homeland. But that does not give you the right to beat him within an inch of his life!" The Headmasters voice was loud and angry at the last sentence. Hide looked away shamefully then tried to make another attempt at an explanation but the Headmaster cut him off. " Your suspended Hide…Three days starting now! Get out of my sight!" Hide looked at The Headmaster for a few minutes before turning away shamefully out the courtyard. The Headmaster looked at Aang then at Onji. His face grew sympathetic "Get him to the medical wing." He said softly to Onji, who just nodded and helped Aang move along. The Headmaster turned and walked away with the crowd of children dissipated shortly after.