(A/N): Hey Guys! So, this is chapter three. I started writing it last night, like, the first five hundred words, and the rest I just finished. Zuri is kind of difficult to write, because I don't have a specific personality mapped out for her. And holy hell, air nomad characters are hard to write.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.


Zuri

"What do you mean you don't have any ships?!" No, that wasn't Anouk shouting, it was me. As it turns out, the Air Nomads don't see the need for boats of any kind.

For travel, they have the sky bison. They don't eat meat, so they don't need boats to fish. It was ridiculous though!

"I'm sorry, Avatar, but you'll have to catch the next Fire nation ship that comes to port." I stared at the man behind the counter, before sighing deeply.

"And when will that arrive?" He consulted the books in front of him, his long beard almost getting caught in them, before looking back up, his fingers intertwined.

"Tomorrow afternoon." I squeezed my eyes shut, sighed, shook my head, pushed away from the desk and walked away.

"Unbelievable." I muttered, and Anouk shook her head, grinning.

"How is it that I'm the hot-headed one?" She asked jokingly, and I glared at her until she held her hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright, don't send me into the eternal abyss." I rolled my eyes, continuing to walk back to the edge of the Southern Air temple, where Ufa Naha was waiting, having just dropped off a family with Michu.

"Back so soon girls?" Anouk's eyebrows twitched down. She hated her gender being pointed out, as if it made her different, weaker, to everyone else.

"Yes." I hissed, patting Michu's head again absent-mindedly, trying to calm myself before climbing onto his back in front of Anouk, who had struggled up there while I was distracted.

"What's wrong with her?" Ufa Naha asked Anouk quietly, who smiled slightly, knowing I could hear them both.

"No ships." Ufa Naha nodded as Michu began to descend, and Anouk scrabbled for a hand-hold.

"Relax, he knows what he's doing." I scolded, and she shook her head, eyes still closed shut.

"But what if he crashes?" She whined, and Ufa Naha chuckled loudly.

"That's pretty much impossible, young lady." Anouk's eyebrows twitched again, and she scowled.

Being called out on not only her gender, but her age? Well done, idiot. Surprisingly enough, Anouk didn't yell at Ufa Naha, probably out of fear that she would startle Michu, leading to our imminent deaths.

We slid down Michu's sides, onto the ground, as we reached the bottom of the cliffs, and Heng raised his head to watch us lazily.

"Yeah, don't get up you lazy boy." I rubbed his chest, resting my back against his side while inspecting the sky.

"We should be alright to sleep out here tonight." I told Anouk, and her eyes widened slightly before she nodded.

"You're the expert, Z." She curled up against Heng's side as well, as the sun began to drift towards the horizon, and Ufa Naha journeyed back up to the temple for the night, leaving us completely alone down here on the ground.

Even from this far down, you could hear faint noises from the Air temple every now and then, seeing as dusk was the busiest time of the day here, and it comforted me to know that help wouldn't be very far away if we got into some sort of trouble.

"Goodnight Anouk." I called, smiling lightly as I rested my head against Heng's ribcage.

"Goodnight Zuri." After a minute, Anouk spoke again. "Goodnight Heng." I grinned, and stroked Heng's side under my head.

"Goodnight Heng." I whispered, but I knew he heard me.


I was awoken the next morning by the sun streaming down onto my face, warm. It was still chilly here, but definitely not as cold as the Southern Water Tribe.

"Anouk, wake up." I mumbled, smacking her lightly on the shoulder, and she grumbled something unintelligible before sitting up, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm up, I'm up." She yawned again, stretching, before surveying the land around us. "It's prettier here in the morning." I smiled at her observation, rising to my feet to remove the tiredness from my body.

"We're going to have to go back up to the Air Temple to pick up some more provisions." I told Anouk, who shuddered delicately.

"Not me, I'll stay down here with Heng. Isn't that right boy?" She cuddled his side, and I smiled, shaking my head, before heading towards the point Michu had dropped us off yesterday morning and, sure enough, Ufa Naha and Michu were there, waiting for travellers.

"Where's your friend, Avatar Zuri?" Ufa Naha asked, and I shrugged.

"She decided sleep was more important than helping me gather provisions." Ufa Naha smiled back at me wisely.

"Well, it is very early Avatar, perhaps sleep is more important at this moment. After all, a rested man is a wise man." I grimaced lightly at the fact that he said man, instead of woman.

Perhaps he referred to most things naturally as a male, seeing as how everyone at the Southern Temple was male.

"Right, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I replied, bluntly telling him the conversation wasn't to continue. It was too early for proverbs.

We arrived at the top of the cliff, and I slid from Michu's back, petting his fluffy head again appreciatively before they descended once more.

Looking around, I noticed the streets were almost empty, apart from a few early risers. It was early, even for monks.

I unhooked the provisions bag from the wooden tog keeping it attached to my leather belt, gripping it close to my chest as if for protection. Taking a deep breath, I could smell the remainders of the food we had packed, bread, salted meats...almost all gone.

Shop keepers were only just setting up their stalls, and I need I wouldn't be able to buy meat here. The Air Nomads were strict vegetarians, no animals allowed.

The first stall I came across had everything I needed, except for the bread. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, everything, even milk. I wandered through the stalls, but none of them seemed to have any bread.

"Excuse me?" I asked a young boy, perhaps seven, who didn't have his arrow tattoo's yet. "Do you know where I can buy some bread?" He beamed at me, and pointed to the very top of the main temple.

"Oh. Thanks." I managed to choke out, as I stared, wide eyed, at the temple above.


(A/N): So, what did you think?

Please review and/or check out my other stories!

P.S: 'Don't send me into the eternal abyss' is Anouk's way of saying, 'don't kill me'.