"It's funny how after a few months the architecture still looks amazing here," Suki commented, gazing around at the air temple ruins.
Two months had passed since the war ended. The world still remained orderly with Zuko positioned as the Fire Lord. Everything in the world was filled with bliss. Everyone treated everyone nicely, like they've been friends for years. The way the people of the world were conversing with each other seemed too good to be true.
Not much in the gang had changed since the resolve of the war. Zuko was still dating Mai… Sokka was still dating Suki… and Aang was now happily with Katara. Toph, however, had a new rank in the group: the third wheel. Everyone else had someone they were with all the time. She was sick of turning every corner to "see" a couple of her friends kissing or holding hands. It disgusted her.
The group of teenagers was visiting the Western Air Temple to recall those memories from months before and to proceed with the Avatar's training. Aang was still mastering the elements and continued his training in case the world went into a state of crisis and needed his help.
The collection of reversely constructed temples looked about the same. Crumbling pillars here and there with water fountains in every courtyard which all managed to spurt water continuously to this day.
The group just arrived at the sanctuary. They all stood in the main courtyard which they first landed on after the invasion plan failed. Before escaping to Ember Island after Azula attempted to eradicate Zuko from existence, this courtyard is where they spent most of their time.
"Hey Zuko, do you remember? This is where we first showed everyone 'The Dancing Dragon'," Aang evoked as he stood in the exact spot of the past occurrence.
Zuko walked towards the boy and joked, "How could I forget? Everyone couldn't stop teasing us,"
The team shared a soft chuckle.
"And this is where Combustion Man tried to kill us," Sokka added.
"Don't forget my sister," Zuko reminded him.
Suki laughed as Sokka wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Wow, it seems like everyday you guys spent here you were getting attacked by some psycho." Suki covered her mouth with her hand after she realized what she had just said was a delicate topic. "No offense," she quickly added.
Zuko brushed his hand against the rough cement of the pillar beside him. "It's okay. We all know Azula was a little- uh… difficult," he said.
Katara joined the conversation, "You know, even after getting attacked by all those people, it's still nice to be back,"
"Well, enough standing around!" Aang cried as he bounced up into the air. "Let's get some training on!"
The rest of the gang shrugged and met up later a couple temples below where there was more space to engage in combat. Zuko, Mai, Sokka, and Toph formed one team while the other consisted of Suki, Katara, and Aang. Each person held their weapon of choice or readied their element of which was their forte. The two lineups stretched across the square and glared at the person who stood opposite of them. All was quiet excluding a gentle breeze which whistled in everyone's ears. It was like an old western movie. Each team was waiting for the signal to attack. Those who could've been there to witness it might've seen a tumbleweed roll by.
"ATTTTTAAAAACCKKKKKKKKKKK!!!" Sokka boomed, swinging his replacement sword in front of him.
Immediately, pairs of dueling teens were created unintentionally. Mai and Suki were engaging in an intense brawl of fans and throwing stars while Zuko and Katara started to assault one another with their native element. Toph chucked numerous boulders at Aang and he evaded them all by running on the walls of the near by temples like a spider. Sokka charged at Zuko with his silver sword pointed forward. Zuko put his hand out flatly and had to remind the water tribe boy that they were on the same team.
Suki knocked Mai off her feet for just a second but swiftly moved on to her next opponent. She surprised Sokka from behind and twisted his unarmed arm behind his back. Sokka whirled around and swung his sword horizontally. Suki nearly broke her back dodging the blade by bending backward Matrix style. She strategically had the point impale the paper part of her fan. She closed the fan on the sword and was able to twist it from Sokka's grip. Suki almost had Sokka in a pinch since he was unarmed, but Mai came to her teammate's rescue and pinned Suki to the ground with her throwing stars.
Zuko was pitching fists engulfed in fire left and right at Katara. He was slowly pushing her to the edge of the courtyard by firing fiery fists at her endlessly. With about an inch left of space to walk on, Aang saw Katara was about to fall to her death and struck Zuko with a blast of air. Katara quickly realized how close she was to the edge and scurried back to the safe middle. Next, she and Toph began to launch attacks at one another.
Now it was Aang versus Zuko. Fire against Air. Aang was darting across the ceiling above everyone's heads to avoid Zuko's balls of fire. Aang dropped in the center of the floor where all the action was. Zuko followed him there and soon the entire collection of teens was gathered in the middle having an all out tussle. Everyone happened to circle Aang who was standing there aimlessly. The boy panted heavily as he watched his friends aim their weapon of preference at him. All at once, Katara whipped her water whip, Zuko fired a stream of fire, Toph chucked a chunk of rock, and those armed with something else utilized those as well, all at Aang. Aang jumped boundless feet into the air and managed to circumvent each assail.
However, each element collided with one another and caused an explosion. Fire lashed out in all directions and the ground shook as if an earthquake was taking place. The blast caused dust to rise and hover in the air, so it became virtually impossible to see anyone. The explosion created a powerful force which sent everyone flying back. Suki and Zuko went one way while Katara and Mai went the other. Toph and Sokka skidded violently across the ground and the two of them were propelled off the side of the cliff.
Toph tried to save herself by grabbing a hold of the earth, but she was unsuccessful. Toph and Sokka began to fall to their death, both of them screaming for their lives. Sokka looked down and the drop appeared endless. It looked like they were going to fall forever.
The dust cleared and straight away Katara noticed Sokka and Toph were missing. She hustled to the edge of the courtyard and glanced down to see nothing but a shifting layer of fog. Katara got back on her feet and looked around once more just in case she overlooked them, but they were gone. She knew they were falling to the depths of the trench which the Western Air Temples were suspended over.
"Oh no, Toph and Sokka fell off the edge!" Katara exclaimed in horror.
"I'll get Appa. Maybe it's not too late to fly down and save them," Aang determined.
As quickly as he could, the Avatar hopped on his flying bison and headed down the trench. He bended the fog around him out of the way so he could see better, but there was too much. The pit was endless and the amount of white haze was infinite. Aang dropped his arms, causing the air in the fog to vanish and droplets of water to descend from the small cloud he had created. He clenched the reins on Appa tightly in anger. He couldn't believe that two of his best friends had disappeared in just seconds. He didn't know how he was going to return with this news to his other friends.
Appa landed on the square courtyard with a grunt. Aang pulled his knees to his chest and refrained from looking the majority of his friends who had survived in the eyes. Katara's eyes flooded with tears as did Suki's. Zuko's jaw dropped and Mai hugged him comfortingly since she did not know the two that well. Aang didn't have to say a word. They all knew the news.
Meanwhile, Toph and Sokka were still plummeting. It felt like they had been falling for ten minutes. Their throats grew dry and they could no longer scream for mercy. Toph had no idea what to expect at the bottom. She felt truly blind with no earth surrounding her. Sokka was also blind due to the fact that the fog covered everything. He guessed it was a good thing, because if he saw the earth approaching then he'd see his death approaching.
"Toph, grab my hand!" Sokka shouted over the roar of the wind in their ears.
"I'd love to but I can't exactly see where you are at the moment!" Toph pointed out audibly.
Sokka was able to push himself through the air over towards Toph. He grabbed her small hand, which was rough and worn. Sokka's strong hand cradled her fragile one. The two fit together perfectly.
Sokka's heart sank and he began to panic when the fog cleared and he saw the rocky bottom advancing towards them.
"Toph, quick, earthbend a sand pit below so we can land in it safely," Sokka instructed.
"Are you crazy? I can't bend earth I can't feel," she told him assertively.
"Just try!" Sokka squealed, covering his eyes in fright.
Toph closed her eyes and forcefully swung her arms downward then shifted them around her waist. The earth below twisted then transformed into loose sand. Toph and Sokka plunged far below the surface of the sand and found themselves unable to dig themselves out. They were losing air and the dirt was crushing them. Toph was able to bend a platform of earth below Sokka and her. She stomped on the platform which caused the chunk of earth to go flying up towards the surface.
Sokka stabbed his sword into the solid and ground and managed to drag Toph and himself out of the sand. The two laid there for a couple minutes to catch their breath. They had just cheated death twice.
"Are you alright?" Sokka asked the blind earthbender in a pant.
Toph replied sarcastically, "I'm dandy,"
After regaining their strength for a couple more minutes the two stood up to evaluate their surroundings. Sokka couldn't believe what just happened and where they were. Everything in the trench was grey and dark. A murky haze hung in the air. The walls of the trench were ornamented with roots and a few twiggy shrubs were distributed in the narrow pass. Insects crawled everywhere and a small creek trickled down the gorge. The ground was muddy and wet. It made it difficult to see for Toph.
"I don't like this place," Sokka quivered as he rubbed his arms.
"Gee, really? Because I can't get enough of it," Toph continued with her sarcasm.
"This can't be happening! What if there are mole people down here?! They could eat us or something!" Sokka shouted shrilly in fear. He ran around like a maniac while panicking over the unrealistic incident.
"Would you calm down? If there were any mole people they would've gotten us by now," Toph joked.
Sokka shook Toph's shoulders frantically, "Now is not a time to stay calm!"
"Listen, with the way I see it we'll be able to get out of here in no time," Toph assured the boy.
Sokka sighed in relief, "Can you feel the exit to this place anywhere?"
Toph burrowed her hands underground in order to feel the vibrations and sense the nearest way out. It took her a couple of moments since the dirt was so moist which caused her senses to blur. Toph stood up and the dusted the filth off her hands.
"This thing goes on for miles… I'm not positive of which way we should go," Toph confessed.
Sokka slapped his hands to his cheeks and yanked them downward. "What?! This is just great! I haven't eaten anything all day and now we have to starve until we get out of here,"
"I don't know, Sokka. It could take us days to get out of here," Toph told him.
Out of no where, Sokka cocked his head back and began screaming, "SUKI! KATARA! AANG! ZUKO! HELLLLOOOOOO!?"
Toph punched his arm aggressively. "Will you shut up?" she ordered irritably. "Let's just figure a way out of here. We've experienced near death twice already and we've only been stuck down here for five minutes and already you're annoying the badger moles out of me,"
"Well, excuse me for being concerned for our safety," Sokka said as he crossed his arms.
Toph rubbed her chin as she began to ponder. There were two ways to go: left or right. As far as she could feel each direction felt the same distance long.
"Hmmm, which way should we go?" Toph asked aloud in contemplation.
Suddenly, they heard an earsplitting, high pitched screech come from the right. The two jumped and grabbed each other instinctively. They shook in fear as they slowly began to tip-toe towards the left.
"I vote we go left," Sokka trembled.
Toph quickly replied, "I second that."
A/N: Please review! Tell me what you liked, didn't like, what I need to work on, or something you might like to see happen in the future. One small review makes all the difference! If I don't get too many I might not continue it...