CHAPTER TWO: SOUNDPROOF


It has been about a week since we had escaped from Ba Sing Se. We were riding on Appa over the ocean, to the Ratava world.

We still had no proof on whether this story was true or not, but it wasn't like we had anything better to do.

After another couple hours of flying, we saw a strange mist over the ocean.

"What is that?" Sokka asked.

"We must be getting close," I said, rubbing Appa's fur.

"What? What is it?" Toph yelled.

"It's some kind of mist." Katara analyzed.

"I'm already uncomfortable being up here in the air, where I'm fully blind, but flying into that mist means that we're all blind!" Toph screamed.

"Don't worry Toph, I've got this." Katara said.

Katara positioned herself so that her hands were free but her legs were stable. Katara thrust her hand forward, and the fog subsided. We flew forward for a couple of minutes, until Appa just broke out into a spasm. He roared, as if he were in searing pain, then we felt it. I don't know what came over me; it was as if an invisible bomb exploded inside of me.

Appa couldn't take it. He flew straight down, towards the ocean. We all pretty much knew we were falling, but the pain was so intense, we were helpless.

In a split second, we dove into the mighty waters. I was still in pain, but not as much as I could have been. That's when I realized Toph couldn't swim. I hit Sokka's shoulder, still under water, and pointed at Toph. Sokka swam over to save her, and I reached out for Appa.

"Go, Appa!" I screamed under the water.

Appa dashed out of the water, and away from the invisible barrier of destruction.

I looked over at Katara. I figured that being a waterbender, she was more focused and powerful when she was underwater. She waved around her arms, and created a small whirlpool, which she used to suck in oxygen. She created a small round ball of air underwater, so we could breathe. Katara steered around the bubble, and directed us back to land. We reached an island far away from the fog. Toph hopped down from Sokka's arms, and kissed the ground.

"Oh gosh, what was that?" Toph asked.

"Well what else could it be?" Sokka asked. "It has to be the entrance to the Ratava world that old man was talking about."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked.

"If you were trying to hide a secret community, what would you do? You would try to stop a person from finding it, which explains the mysterious fog. If they go past that, then what do you do?" Sokka explained.

"Stop them from coming in with force!" I replied.

"This explains the weird explosions." Katara said, nodding to herself.

"Actually, I don't think it was a weird explosion. Remember what the old man said? Soundbenders."

"You really think those were harsh sound waves, from soundbenders? " Toph asked.

Sokka took in a deep breath. "Yes."

The silence was very dramatic, but awkward.

We all looked in the same direction, at the fog hiding the sound-barrier.

"So how are we going to get into that place?" I asked.

"We could always dive under the barrier," Katara suggested.

Toph stomped into the ground, making a light earthquake. "No! I'm not going back into that death trap. I'm not going into the water, and I'm not going up into the air again."

"Obviously, explorers would have tried going over or under. It's common sense" Sokka explained. "We need to go directly through."

"How do you expect us to get through that without getting destroyed?" Katara yelled.

"Well, the ideal way, is to have something soundproof to block the sound." Sokka explained.

"And do you happen to carry around soundproof walls in your bag pack?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Uh, no." Sokka replied, scratching his head. "But we do have this island."

We all looked at the island. It was about 10 feet by 10 feet, with a small palm tree in the middle.

"We'll need some intense insulation. Toph, make a think rock wall around the island. Katara, raise a big puddle of water over us." Sokka demanded.

"Why not just ice?" Katara asked.

"Ice can be crushed and broken into sharp shards. With a big enough layer of water, we won't be as strong as we could be, but we'll stand a chance." Sokka explained.

After Toph and Katara did their share to shield the island, we all moved the sturdy rock room across the water, towards the fog.

"Now, everyone, cover your ears and pray we get through this." Sokka yelled.

Toph bended down the palm tree so we could use the leafs to cover our ears. Recently, Toph learned that earthbending wasn't just rocks and dirt; it was also plants and trees, because they were connected to the earth.

Katara, Sokka and I got down to the ground and covered our ears. Toph made a pair of headphones out of rock, and waved her arms around, moving the island.

I could feel the vibration from the sound—that was for sure. As I looked up, I noticed that the rock walls were cracking. The water above us was shaking. Toph pulled her arms in, and the walls quickly became thicker. Katara stood up, and stomped. The water floating above us moved down and around us, and we were all surrounded by the water, except for Toph, of course.

I figured it was my turn to do something. I stood us, keeping the small body of water around me, and punched a hole in the rock wall. I made sure the hole was facing the opposite direction of the fog. I took in a very deep breath, and blew into the hole. The air pushed us faster, and the pain eventually stopped. Toph pushed away the walls, and the ground sank into the ocean. The water fell on us, and withered away. We stood up, and looked around. We were no longer in the Avatar world.

Suddenly, all I could hear was the sound of heavy breathing. I felt a finger tap my shoulder. I turned around. Sokka pointed forward. I scrunched my eyes, and I could make out a long line of what seemed like—guns?

"Intruders have penetrated the northern sound barrier!" a deep heavy voice announced. "Attack!"


A/N: Yeah, it's another author's note. I know how annoying it is to have a ton of these in a story, so i'll make this short.

I'm really working hard on this story, and I do hope that you'll read & review it, so if you're reading this, then please, review this story/chapter.

We all know how annoying it is to have 100 views, and 1 review.