A/N: Sorry for updating so late! Life happened, and stuff happened, and this chapter didn't happen. To make up, here's a longer chapter. Actually, now that Rin has joined the Gaang, I'll be aiming to make most chapters this long.
Note: small change in chapter 2. Rin woke up "a few years ago" as opposed to "about two years ago." Just a minor thing so continuity doesn't get messed up later.
Chapter 4: The Fortuneteller
The group had stopped to take a lunch break by a small river, sitting around an empty fire pit on the riverbank. Katara was lecturing Rin on the "rules" of the group, while Aang messed around with some string. Sokka was sitting next to a fishing pole he had crafted, waiting for a potential lunch to come down the river.
"... and, despite what you might think, you can't just go around stealing everything you see!" Katara shouted.
"First of all, I steal to survive, not because I'm greedy. Secondly, why do you seem to hate me so much? It's not like I've done anything to you," Rin asked.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe you tried to invade my tent and steal all of my stuff!" Katara shouted, crossing her arms and turning away.
"Hey, at the time you were just a stranger with resources I could use. Now, you're an ally, at least for a little while. Besides, I was hungry, and I knew you guys had food," Rin said, trying to justify her actions, but Katara ignored her. Rin sighed and looked out towards the river, spotting a large, green fish jumping up and down.
"There's our lunch," Rin said, pointing out the fish to Sokka.
"That fish is taunting me!" Sokka declared as the fish jumped in and out of the river. He grabbed his fishing pole before running off to the water, flicking the rod forwards a few times before realizing that nothing was coming out.
"What happened to the fishing line?" Sokka asked, turning back towards the group. Katara started glaring at Rin, who shrugged.
"I have it here, Sokka. I didn't think you'd need it," Aang said, holding up the string, which was now braided with a flower in the middle.
"Ah, It's all tangled!" Sokka said.
"Not tangled, woven!" Aang replied, turning towards Katara. "I thought that since you lost your necklace, you could use a new one."
"Great to know that you're wasting our precious fishing line," Rin said, trying to snatch the necklace away and turn it back into proper fishing line.
"Don't be so stingy, Rin!" Katara said, taking the necklace before Rin could get to it.
We can do without a little fishing line. And thank you Aang, it looks great."
"You've got to be kidding me... you need to be a little more serious, Avatar!" Rin shouted, turning to Aang to lecture him. "That fishing line would have gotten us at least a week's worth of dinner, and you just waste it on a useless necklace!"
"Don't talk to Aang like that! He's just trying to be nice!" Katara said, placing herself between Rin and Aang.
"Niceness won't fill up your stomach, but a fish will," Rin replied.
"Calm down, Rin," Aang said. "We can always get more fishing line at the next town."
"I know, but we're pretty much broke, and when I see you wasting the fishing line, it's just... I just can't stand it. How can you take on the responsibility of saving the world if you can't take on the responsibility of making sure this group gets dinner?" Rin asked, sitting down on a log.
"Well, if we're lucky, people sometimes give us stuff, since I'm the Avatar. Besides, we've been looking after ourselves for a while now. We should be fine," Aang said, pointing towards the river. Rin turned to see Sokka, who was standing in the middle of the water, holding the green fish in his arms. However, the fish immediately jumped out of his arms and smacked him in the face with its tail before falling back down into the river, leaving Sokka empty handed.
"See, now if we had the fishing line..." Rin mumbled. Suddenly, the group heard a roar from nearby. Aang jumped onto a tall rock and looked around, trying to spot the source of the sound.
"There's someone being attacked by a platypus bear!" he called, pointing downriver. As they ran, Rin saw a large, angry platypus bear swinging at a man, who was calmly dodging the heavy blows from the animal.
"Hello there! It's a nice day today, isn't it?" the man said calmly as the group came closer. Aang, Katara, and Sokka started shouting advice to him, while Rin tried to sneak up behind the creature, hatchet ready in her hand.
The tail should be pretty sensitive, Rin thought, preparing to attack the platypus bear from behind. As it took another swing at the man, she struck, sinking her hatchet into the platypus bear's tail. The creature roared with pain as Rin pulled the hatchet out, causing blood to drip from the end of the blade. However, when she tried to retreat back, the platypus bear smacked her with a powerful backhand blow, knocking her into a nearby tree.
"Rin!" Aang shouted, jumping in front of the platypus bear and pushing it back with a blast of air.
"I'm okay!" Rin shouted back. The platypus bear let out another roar, only to be out-roared by Appa, who had just arrived behind the creature. The platypus bear, startled and frightened by the larger creature that just appeared behind it, fled into the river and swam away. As Rin got up, Aang and Sokka ran up to her with looks of concern on their faces, while Katara attended to the man they had saved.
"Are you sure you're okay? You just got hit full-on by a platypus bear," Sokka asked.
"It might bruise later, but I'm fine. Just a little winded," Rin assured, dusting herself off.
"So you get hit with enough force to shred a tree, and you only get a few bruises? Are you sure you're not wearing any armor, because that's kinda odd," Katara said, walking over with the man. Rin looked past them and saw a large chunk taken out of a tree where the platypus bear was attacking the man.
"Look, I don't know why I'm not hurt, maybe it just didn't hit me as hard as it could have. It doesn't really matter," Rin replied. "Is the guy okay?"
"I'm fine, thank you. To be honest, you did not have to intervene. Everything was under control," the man said.
"Your were about to be mauled by a platypus bear! How is that under control?" Sokka asked.
"Aunt Wu predicted that I would have a safe journey," the man replied, grabbing Rin's attention.
"Aunt Wu? You mean Aunt Wu, the fortuneteller?" Rin asked, causing the man's face to light up.
"Ah, I see her reputation has spread from beyond the village. You should pay her a visit. It's nice to know your fortune," the man said.
"Wow, knowing your future... that's why you were so calm, since you knew that you wouldn't be hurt!" Katara exclaimed.
"But the fortuneteller was wrong!" Sokka argued. "If it wasn't for us, he would have been killed!"
"But I wasn't," the man replied with a grin on his face. "Well, I must be going now. Oh, and Aunt Wu told me to give this to any travelers I see."
The man walked off past the group, leaving Aang with a long, thin package. He started tearing through it, eager to find out what was inside.
"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes," Katara suggested.
"Come on, fortune telling is just crazy nonsense. There's no way someone could tell the future," Sokka said, just as Aang finished tearing through the package, leaving a small, extendable umbrella.
"Hey, it's an umbrella!" Aang said, just before a clap of thunder roared from the sky and gray clouds rolled overhead. Rain started to pour down, and everyone but Sokka huddled underneath the umbrella.
"I guess that proves it," Katara said.
"No it doesn't, those clouds have been there all day," Sokka argued. "And Rin, don't tell me you believe in it too!"
"I'd prefer that fortune telling wasn't real, but I choose to believe rather than get wet. Suck up your pride and get under the umbrella," Rin said. Sokka merely grumbled and walked beside them, drenched by the rain, as they headed to the village.
"So, how did you meet Aunt Wu?" Aang asked. They were almost to the village, and the rain had stopped, though the skies were still cloudy.
"Eh, I think I came through this village some time ago, though I don't remember much about it. We met, we talked, then I left, and that's about it," Rin answered.
"So, does she really tell the future? Or is she just a big scam?" Sokka asked.
"Well, she did tell me my future... though I'm not sure if she was right or not. I'd rather not talk about it," Rin said as the group approached the entrance to the town, walking under a large wooden gate. A few turkey ducks waddled beside them, quacking.
"Well, looks like we found our lunch," Rin said, drawing her hatchet out of her bag. However, before she could leap onto the birds, Aang shooed them away.
"Hey, why'd you do that?" Rin asked. "I was about to get us a meal! What's with you and preventing us from getting food?"
"First of all, I don't eat meat. Secondly, that creature has a life, just like all of us. I can't let you kill it just so you could get a meal. Life, in all forms, is sacred," Aang explained.
"I can't believe you, Avatar!" Rin shouted, descending into a rant against Aang. "That's how life works! Are you going to refuse to kill every creature, no matter what? Even if you're starving, and there's a fresh, plump turkey duck in front of you? Even when you're in a fight to the death, and the only way out is to kill or be killed? That naive philosophy is going to come back to bite you one day, you know!"
"Woah, Rin! Calm down! Aang's just a kid, you're being too harsh on him," Sokka said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Well, this kid is the Avatar! He's gotta beat the Fire Nation, and frankly, I don't see how he can do that with this sort of mindset!" Rin shouted, pointing down towards Aang as he drew backwards.
"I knew bringing you into the group was a bad idea," Katara mumbled, just loud enough so Rin could hear her.
"Hey, I'm teaching this kid a valuable lesson here!" Rin said, walking up to confront Katara before being pulled back by Sokka.
"Rin, you need to calm down. Even if you're right, shouting and fighting won't get us anywhere," Sokka said. Rin took a deep breath, sighed, and nodded, continuing on into the village. The rest of the group followed, with everyone keeping their distance from Rin except for Sokka, who walked up beside Rin.
"You should probably apologize to them," Sokka suggested.
"Why?" Rin asked.
"Well, I think your rant kinda, well... let's put it this way. You just yelled at Aang, and I think he's kinda afraid of you now," Sokka explained.
"And?" Rin asked.
"And Katara, from what I've seen, cares for Aang. I don't think either of them like you now, and if you're going to be in the group, we should probably get along. Maybe if you apologize, everything will be better?" Sokka suggested.
"I'll apologize when they fix themselves up," Rin growled, turning away from Sokka to cut off any further conversation. Eventually, they reached the building which Rin recognized as Aunt Wu's. The group gathered at the door, where they were greeted by a strange man.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you," he said, opening the door for the group. They entered into a small waiting room where they were greeted by a small girl in a pink kimono.
"Hello! My name is Meng, and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant," she said, before her gaze landed on Aang. She fixed her eyes on Aang for a few moments, then motioned the group to sit down on a row of large pillows off to the side.
"So, would you like to have some tea, or maybe some bean curd puffs?" She asked, stooping down in front of Aang.
"I'll have a bean curd puff," Sokka said, but it was obvious that Meng didn't hear him, as she was looking at Aang intently.
"So, what's your name?" She asked.
"Aang," he replied, looking around in disinterest.
"Oh, that rhymes with Meng!" She said. By then, Rin had tuned out her high-pitched voice. As Meng finished talking with Aang, she went to a back room to fetch food for the group. She came back with a tray with steaming cups of tea and a large bowl of curd puffs, to Sokka's delight. As Sokka started to eat, an old lady in yellow robes came out to greet them.
"Hello, I'm Aunt Wu! So, who's ready to see their future?" She asked, scanning over the group. When her eyes fell onto Rin, they widened.
"I remember you... we must talk afterwards. Now, who's first? Don't be shy," Aunt Wu said.
"I'll go," Katara replied, standing up and following Aunt Wu into her room. The rest of the group waited behind, Sokka munching on curd puffs as Aang fidgeted in his seat, looking nervously at Rin, who was sitting beside him.
"Uh, I think I need to go to the bathroom," Aang stated, running off into one of the hallways next to Aunt Wu's room.
"Look, now you've scared him off," Sokka said. "I think he's afraid of you."
"It's not my fault. I just told him what I thought about him," Rin replied.
"Maybe, but you didn't have to do it so harshly," Sokka said, scraping the bottom of the bowl for more curd puffs. Rin noticed that Sokka hadn't touched the tea yet, as the cups were still full.
"Pass me some tea, will you?" She asked. Sokka handed her a cup and, after blowing the top of the cup to cool the liquid down, started slowly sipping the tea.
"I didn't see you as the type to drink tea," Sokka said.
"It helps me calm myself down. I'll admit, I was pretty bad out there, though I still stand by my point," Rin replied as Aang strolled back into the waiting room with a wide smile on his face.
"Someone had a pleasant trip to the bathroom," Sokka commented upon seeing Aang's grin.
"Yeah, well, when I was in there-" Aang said, trying to explain himself, before being cut off by a disgusted look from Sokka.
"Just sit down," Rin said, as Katara came out with Aunt Wu.
"So, who's next?" The old lady asked.
"Let's get this over with," Sokka grumbled, getting up before being stopped by Aunt Wu.
"Your future is full of struggle and anguish; mostly self-inflicted," she said.
"B-but you didn't read my palms or anything like that!" Sokka argued.
"I didn't need to. It's written all over your face. Now come, boy," Wu replied, taking Aang into the other room. Katara glared at Rin for a moment before passing by her, sitting next to Sokka. The room was quiet, but Rin felt tension between herself and Katara.
I don't think we're ever going to get along if she continues like this, Rin thought before noticing a puff of smoke drift out of the doorway Aang and Aunt Wu had gone through.
"I'm going to go check on them," Rin said, putting down her tea and standing up.
"Wait, why?" Katara asked.
"Nothing much, I just saw a bit of smoke and I wanna see if they're okay," Rin explained, heading over to the door. Looking into the room, she saw Aunt Wu and Rin sitting around a fire, with bone fragments scattered all around the floor. The old lady seemed to be reading one of the fragments.
"... and you will be with the one you love," Aunt Wu finished saying, putting down the bone fragment.
"Really? That's great!" Aang shouted gleefully, before turning to the exit and noticing Rin.
"Is everything okay in here?" Rin asked.
"Yup, why do you ask?" Aang replied.
"I just saw some smoke, and I came to see if you were fine," Rin explained.
"That was just part of the fortune telling. Speaking of that, it's your turn now," Aang said, before rushing past Rin. After he had gone back to the others, Rin closed the door behind her and sat down with Aunt Wu.
"It's been a long time," Aunt Wu said, scanning Rin with her eyes.
"It has. So, what happened with the Avatar's fortune?" Rin asked.
"You would not believe it. The bone cracked and exploded into a hundred pieces..." Aunt Wu explained.
"Wow. That kid's going somewhere, huh?" Rin said, digging through her bag.
"He is... but enough small chat. I'm surprised that you're still alive," Aunt Wu said.
"It seems like your prediction was wrong," Rin replied with a smirk.
"Maybe so. It would be the only time the bones have ever lied to me. So, do you still have it?" Aunt Wu asked.
"Here it is," Rin said, pulling a scorched bone out of her bag.
Four years ago
Rin climbed through the window frame and fell inside, grunting as she hit the hardwood floor. A loud growling noise came from inside of her, once again reminding Rin that her stomach was painfully empty. The last meal she had eaten was a loaf of bread, donated by a sympathetic man who had seen her sitting on the side of the road. That was two days ago. If she didn't eat soon, she would starve.
Using the light from the moon outside, Rin searched around the room, looking for food. After finding nothing, she slipped out into the hallway, slowly making her way through the building. Dim oil lamps were placed along the walls, giving off enough light for Rin to make sure that there was no one else in the hallway. As she passed by one of the rooms, a glint out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Rin turned and saw a half finished bowl of bean curd puffs turned on its side, with most of the food scattered on the floor. However, Rin didn't care about the state of the food - it was food, and she wanted it.
Rin scrambled over to the bowl, squatting down and shoveling the bean curd puffs into her mouth. They were stale, and she could taste dust that had accumulated on the puffs, but she didn't care. Rin rejoiced as her stomach filled up, relieving her of the constant pain in her abdomen as she continued to scarf down the bean curd puffs.
"I had a feeling I would get a visitor tonight... but I didn't think it would be like this."
Rin froze as she heard the voice behind her, dropping the curd puff in her hand. Slowly turning around, she saw an old lady standing over her, carrying a lantern in her hand. Rin scurried backed away from the woman's gaze, frantically looking around for an escape route.
"You may continue eating, if you want," the woman said, sighing.
"Really?" Rin asked, eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes. Go ahead," the woman replied. Rin's eyes lightened up, and she crawled back over to the bean curd puffs to continue eating. The old lady sat down a few feet away, watching Rin as she ate.
"Thank you for your kindness," Rin said as she finished eating, sitting down in front of the old lady.
"You're welcome, child. You must have been starving, judging by the way you ate. How did you get like this?" the woman asked.
"To be honest, I'm not sure," Rin replied, recalling the past few days in her head. "I've been wandering around, trying to survive but... it's just so hard. I've been starving for the past week."
"Life is like that," the woman said, nodding her head. "Where is your family? Shouldn't they be with you?"
"I don't have a family. Well at least, I don't think I do. I don't remember much of anything right now, and that's why I've been wandering around. I have no idea where I came from, or what my life was like before. All I remember was waking up sometime during the last moon..." Rin explained.
"I see. While I cannot help you find your past, I may be able to help you look towards the future. What is your name?" the woman asked.
"It's Rin," Rin replied. The name was actually a fairly common name that she heard during her travels, so Rin decided to take it as her own, as she didn't know what her actual name was. It was one of the many mysteries of whatever forgotten past she may have had.
"Hello, Rin," the lady said, standing up and holding her hand out towards the girl. "I'm Aunt Wu, and I'm the fortune teller for this village. I had a feeling that someone would arrive tonight who needed my assistance. Come with me and let us look towards your future."
Rin took Aunt Wu's hand, and the older lady led her into a larger room. A fire was lit in the middle of the room, accompanied by a plate stacked high with bones.
"The bones are my most reliable method of fortune telling," Aunt Wu explained. "Throw one into the fire, and through the cracks, the spirits will tell me your destiny."
As the two kneeled down by the fire, Rin took a bone from the middle of the pile and threw it into the fire. Despite the intense heat, the bone refused to crack as it sat in the flames. Aunt Wu gasped as she observed the bone.
"Is there something wrong?" Rin asked.
"Yes... this is odd. The bone always cracks..." Aunt Wu muttered, leaning in closer to study the bone. The two sat in silence for a few minutes as the fire raged on, with the bone still completely intact.
"The spirits have never told me this before," Aunt Wu muttered as she put out the fire using a pail of water, leaving the two in the dim glow of a lantern.
"What is it? Did you see my future?" Rin asked, anxious for an answer.
"I think I did... or perhaps your lack of a future," Aunt Wu said. Rin tilted her head to the side, confused about what the old lady meant.
"What do you mean?" Rin asked.
"Normally, when someone throws a bone into the fire, a spirit creates cracks to show the destiny of the person, or their paths towards the future. But in your case, there were no cracks," Aunt Wu explained.
"So, if I have no cracks in the bone, what does that mean?" Rin asked skeptically.
"In the best scenario, this would most likely be a fluke. However, if worst comes to worst... you will die soon. The spirits may not be showing you your path to the future because, well, you have no future," Aunt Wu explained. Rin took a second to register this into her mind.
"That's troubling... but to tell you the truth, I don't think I'll die just because some spirit thinks that I have no destiny. Thank you for feeding me and showing me this," Rin said, bowing towards Aunt Wu before getting up and heading to the exit.
"Wait!" Aunt Wu called, causing Rin to stop and turn around. The old lady went over to the fire and plucked out the bone, which was covered in scorch marks, taking it over to Rin.
"If you do live, keep this. If you ever come back, we will see if your destiny has changed," Aunt Wu said, handing Rin the scorched bone. The girl simply smiled at the older woman before going out the door and walking back into the night.
Present Day
"So you did keep it after all this time," Aunt Wu commented, rubbing her chin.
"Well, I just stuck it into the bottom of my bag and it's been there ever since," Rin explained. "What animal did you get this from, anyways? You seem to have a lot of bones, so you must be getting them from somewhere."
"It's mostly just the leftover bones from after the villagers eat their livestock. No one else has any use for them, so I take them for my fortune telling," Aunt Wu explained. "Now go on and throw your bone into the fire. Let's see if your destiny has changed."
Rin threw the scorched bone back into the fire where she had thrown it three years ago. The two leaned closer to see if there were any cracks forming in the bone, but once again, it lay perfectly still, its surface remaining whole and unsplit.
"So it wasn't a fluke," Aunt Wu muttered. "But if you're alive now..."
"Maybe it's just this specific bone that's the problem?" Rin suggested, reaching out towards the plate of bones before being stopped by Aunt Wu.
"No. The bone is merely a blank template for the spirits to show your fortune. I can't think of any explanation though..." Aunt Wu replied.
Rin sighed, then got up and started walking over to the exit. "Who knows, maybe the spirits just hate me or something," Rin joked. "Well, I don't think I'll be able to get anything else here, so I'll be going now. Can't keep the group waiting forever."
"It's not wise to take the spirits lightly," Aunt Wu called after her as Rin walked out the door and back into the waiting room, which was now barren.
Great, just go and leave without me, Rin thought, grumbling and heading outside. The rest of the group were walking further down the street, arguing about something that Rin couldn't hear. Out of the blue, Sokka kicked a small rock into the air, which bounced off of a hanging sign and hit him right back in the head, knocking the boy down. Rin covered her mouth, stifling a giggle after witnessing Sokka's misfortune.
"That doesn't prove anything!" Sokka shouted from the ground as Rin joined in with the rest of the group.
"So, are we just going to stand around here all day?" Rin asked. "Where are we going?"
"Well, I thought we could go get lunch somewhere," Aang suggested.
"You mean that lunch I could have caught if you hadn't gotten in the way?" Rin reminded Aang, who cringed away from her.
"Hey, it's not Aang's fault!" Katara shouted. "He just wanted to protect a life that was in danger!"
"I don't think you understand how nature works," Rin argued. "In the real world, everyone fights to survive, and lives disappear every day. That turkey duck that the Avatar protected is probably going to be eaten by some other animal anyways, so what's the point of keeping it alive?"
"Hey, let's not talk about this right now," Sokka interrupted. "We should just find a place to eat."
"Fine," Rin grumbled, as the group started walking down the street again.
The group was sitting on the side of the street, sharing a loaf of bread they managed to buy with a couple of coins Rin found at the bottom of her bag. Aang and Katara once again distanced themselves away from Rin, who was eating with Sokka.
"I don't think that kid is cut out to be the Avatar," Rin said, catching Sokka's attention.
"What? Why not?" Sokka asked, stuffing a piece of bread in his mouth.
"Well, he hasn't really been too impressive. He accidentally knocks me off of a cliff, and when I wake up, he's naive enough to trust me to not steal his stuff," Rin explained. "Don't take it the wrong way though. I'm a part of the group now, so I probably won't take any of your stuff."
"We don't really have anything to take, anyways," Sokka replied.
"True, though your boomerang and the Avatar's staff are tempting. Anyways, in the same day, you and your sister get sick and the Avatar gets captured. If I hadn't been there, it would have been over for your little group. And now, he's naive enough to prevent us from hunting just so a few animals can live for a couple more days. I can't see why you aren't mad at him, seeing that all you eat at the south pole is meat," Rin explained.
"Well, Rin," Sokka started, before sighing. "I can't really deny what you said, but Katara and I have traveled with Aang for a decent amount of time, and I can say that if he needs to take responsibility, he will. Believe me, he's done it before."
"I'll have to see it myself," Rin said, finishing up her meager lunch. She noticed a crowd of townsfolk gathered in the plaza in front of Aunt Wu's house and stood up, walking over towards the crowd.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sokka asked.
"To find out what everyone's doing over there," Rin answered. Sokka got up and joined her, with Katara and Aang following close behind. As they got closer, Rin saw that everyone was looking up at the sky, as if waiting for something.
"What's up with the sky?" Katara asked one of the villagers.
"We're waiting for Aunt Wu to come out and read the clouds," the villager replied. "She will predict the fate of the whole village."
"The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Makapu will stay dormant for another year, or if it will erupt," another villager explained.
"We used to have a tradition of sending someone to the top of the mountain every year to check the volcano," the first villager said. "But ever since Aunt Wu moved in 20 years ago, we've had a tradition of not doing that."
"I can't believe you would trust your lives with that crazy old woman and her superstitions!" Sokka shouted, before being shushed by his sister.
"She's coming!" Katara warned as Aunt Wu came up behind the crowd. The townsfolk cheered, opening a path through the middle of the crowd. Aunt Wu walked through the middle of the crowd and up to an elevated shrine. She took out a small handbook and looked up at the sky, taking a deep breath.
"Bending arrow cloud..." Aunt Wu muttered, looking back down at the handbook. "Good crops this year. A great harvest."
The townsfolk cheered, but were silenced as Aunt Wu looked back up at the sky. "Half moon cloud... a great year for twins," she said.
"How long is this going to take?" Sokka asked one of the townsfolk.
"Be quiet," the man whispered, hushing the boy. "The most important reading is about to come."
"A cumulus cloud with a twisty lump coming off the end..." Aunt Wu mumbled, as the crowd became completely silent in anticipation of her next reading. Rin swore that if she breathed, everyone in the village would be able to hear it. The only sound was the breeze blowing over the plaza.
"The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!" Aunt Wu finally proclaimed. The crowd cheered, confident in the fortune teller's readings.
"I can't believe these guys are trusting their village to this old lady," Sokka muttered.
"I agree," Rin replied. "I mean, I appreciated her readings back when we visited her, but leaving the fate village to the clouds just seems stupid."
"I guess we're the only ones who think that," Sokka said, looking over the rest of the village. Rin noticed Aang trying to talk to Katara, but it seemed that neither of the girls could hear him over the cheering crowd, as Katara ignored him and ran off towards Aunt Wu's house.
"So, what now?" Rin asked, before seeing Sokka caught up in an argument with a man who was wearing an ugly pair of red shoes. After a few seconds of arguing, the man walked off with a happy smile, while Sokka was screaming with frustration.
"I swear, there's got to be someone in this town with a lick of sense!" Sokka shouted, as he and Rin started walking down the street.
"I don't care what she told you, you have to take a bath sometime!"
Sokka groaned as the filthy old man simply gave him a grin and walked off. Rin gave a small chuckle at Sokka's futile efforts to bring reason to the village, though it did hurt her inside to see these people living so illogically. As Sokka sat on the ground, defeated, Rin looked up towards Mt. Makapu.
"You know, I don't think it's safe for this village to rely just on cloud readings. I'm going to go up and see the volcano for myself," Rin decided, heading towards the edge of the village.
"Well, I guess if it gives me an opportunity to prove these people wrong, I'm all for it," Sokka said, standing up and following Rin. As they followed the path out of the village and up the mountain, the forest quickly turned into rocky, mountainous terrain. Rin and Sokka started climbing up the steep slope of the volcano, scaling boulder after boulder and slowly making their way up to the top.
"Hey, is that Aang?" Sokka asked, prompting Rin to turn around and look down the mountain. Aang was quickly making his way up, using his airbending to jump from boulder to boulder.
"Oh, hey guys!" Aang called to the Rin and Sokka as he land next to them.
"What are you doing up here?" Sokka asked.
"I'm trying to find a panda lily," Aang explained. "I saw one in action and boy, does it work."
"What's he talking about?" Sokka asked Rin as Aang jumped further up the mountain.
"Well, I overheard some girl back in the village saying that she'll receive a panda lily from her lover, so it's probably some sort of flower that they use to confess love. It seems that the Avatar has his eyes on someone," Rin suggested.
"Eh, he's a kid. I'm sure he'll get over it," Sokka replied. As they neared the top, Rin saw Aang at the rim of the volcano, sniffing a black and white flower. Suddenly, he looked out over the rim and froze.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rin asked, climbing up behind Aang. As she got to the top, she saw what Aang had caused Aang to freeze. Lava was steadily filling the crater within the volcano, and seemed like it was about to erupt.
"Oh no!" Aang gasped, accidentally dropping the panda lily into the lava.
"Well, that proves it," Rin muttered. "Aunt Wu was wrong, and the townsfolk are stupid."
"The village is in danger! We've got to get down there and warn them!" Sokka shouted.
"There's no time to walk!" Aang replied, grabbing onto Rin and Sokka. "Sokka, get on my back. Rin, grab onto my legs. We're flying to the village!"
Rin and Sokka obeyed Aang's instructions, grabbing onto him and holding on tight as he unfolded his glider and jumped off the mountain. After a short and terrifying flight, they landed in front of Aunt Wu's house, where Katara was waiting.
"Can you believe she won't let me in after all the business I gave her?" Katara complained, turning towards the group.
"She doesn't even charge," Aang pointed out.
"I know, but still..." Katara muttered.
"It doesn't matter now. What's important is that the village is in danger. Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano," Sokka explained.
"Look Sokka, I know you don't believe in Aunt Wu's fortunes. It's going to take a lot to convince me-"
BOOOOOOOOOM
In the middle of Katara's sentence the mountain suddenly exploded, spewing ash into the air. A large cloud of billowing smoke started rising from the top of the mountain.
"Did that convince you?" Rin asked.
"Come on! We've got to tell the townspeople about this!" Aang shouted. The group ran off into the plaza, where people were milling around, unfazed by the explosion that happened just a few moments ago.
"Everyone! Aunt Wu was wrong! The volcano is going to erupt any minute now!" Sokka shouted at the gathering crowd. Despite his desperate warnings, Rin saw looks of amusement and relaxation on people's faces.
"Yeah, we know you don't believe in Aunt Wu, Mr. Science and Reason lover," one of the townsfolk called out. Frustrated, Katara went out in front of the crowd.
"I want to believe in Aunt Wu as much as you do, but my friends saw the lava with their own eyes. You have to believe us," she said.
"Well, I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears," someone shouted. Aang shouted in frustration and jumped to one of the rooftops.
"Listen to us! You're all in danger, and you have to evacuate! You can't just rely on Aunt Wu's prediction! You need to take fate into your own hands!" Aang shouted, standing above the crowd, which was still unconvinced.
"Can your fortune telling explain that?" Sokka asked, pointing towards the smoke above the mountain.
"Can your science explains why it rains?" one of the townspeople asked back, causing Rin to facepalm. The crowd started to disperse, uninterested in what the group had to say. Aang jumped down from the roof and joined up with the others as they discussed what to do.
"I swear, I'm getting stupider just by being around these people," Rin muttered.
"It doesn't look like they'll listen to reason," Katara said.
"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" Aang replied, his face lit up.
"That's the problem we're having right now," Sokka said.
"It's about to become the solution. We'll take fate into our own hands. First, I'll need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book," Aang explained. Gradually, everyone in the group turned their heads towards Rin.
"Figures that you would have me do this," Rin sighed as the group headed over to Aunt Wu's house. Once they got their, Rin started giving orders.
"You and you," Rin said, pointing towards the water tribe siblings. "Take guard. Make sure nobody comes in. Avatar, give me a boost so I can get to the roof."
"It would be better if you called us by our actual names," Katara said.
"Again, bad with names. I'll learn them in a few days. Probably," Rin replied. Aang used a blast of air to propel Rin to the roof, where she landed and looked back down.
"Come on up," Rin told Aang, who launched himself to the roof with his own blast of air. Together they climbed up to a hole in the roof, directly above the fire pit where people would throw their bones. Smoke was still rising up from the chimney, but it wasn't too much.
"Grab onto me and lower us down gently," Rin ordered. Aang complied, holding Rin by her arms and slowly lowering the two to the floor. After a quick look around to make sure that nobody was there, Rin and Katara started looking for the cloud book, digging through drawers and pots.
It's probably here somewhere, Rin thought, going through a bunch of scolls before turning up empty. Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching the room.
"Hide!" Rin whispered, ducking behind a large pot in the corner of the room. However, it seemed that Aang didn't hear him, as he continued looking through a drawer. Meng opened the door and, upon seen Aang, walked up behind him.
You idiot, Rin thought, watching Aang get caught by the pink-clothed girl. However, instead of being kicked out, Aang simply talked with the girl. Rin wasn't close enough to hear them, but she realized that Aang wouldn't be forced to leave. After the girl left, Rin popped out from behind the pot.
"You're lucky, you know that? When I get caught, it usually means either escaping or getting handed over to the local police," Rin said.
"Well, I guess people are nicer when it's the Avatar taking their stuff. Look what I got!" Aang replied, holding up Aunt Wu's cloud book.
"Great. Let's head back outside," Rin ordered, as Aang pulled her up and out of the house.
Rin watched as the clouds moved, seemingly with a mind of their own. Slowly, a shape started forming, growing more detailed by the second.
I guess it's time, Rin thought, knocking on Aunt Wu's door. The old lady opened up, a tired look on her face.
"What is it?" she asked as Rin put on a look of mock distress.
"The clouds! They're forming something!" Rin shouted, trying to sound worried.
"They are? I must get my cloud book!" Aunt Wu replied, trying to head back in. However, Rin grabbed onto her arm and pulled her into the plaza.
"There's no time! Look, look!" Rin said, pointing up towards the clouds. By now, the rest of the group had finished bending the clouds, forming a giant skull in the sky.
"Oh my!" Aunt Wu cried, catching the attention of the townspeople. "Volcanic Doom!"
"If we act fast, we can still save the village!" Aang shouted as he flew down with the rest of the group. "Sokka has a plan!"
"Lava will flow down here to this spot," Sokka explained to the growing crowd of townspeople. "If we build a trench that's deep enough, we can divert the lava around the village and into the river. Earthbenders go with Aang, and everyone else who can dig should grab a shovel."
As the townspeople started mobilizing, Rin grabbed a shovel and headed over to the dig site. Soon, the townspeople managed to dig a fairly deep trench around the village just as the volcano exploded once more. Lava was starting to flow down the mountain.
"Everyone, you need to evacuate! We'll call you when it's safe!" Aang shouted, causing the townspeople to flee across the river. The group gathered in front of the village gates, where the lava would flow down and into the trench.
"Why are we standing directly in front of the lava flow?" Rin asked.
"I'm confident that the ditch will be enough to stop the lava. Even if it doesn't, we still have the Avatar," Sokka explained.
"Right, because he's so reliable," Rin said, adding a bit of sarcasm with her voice. The group fell into silence as the lava flowed down the mountain, destroying trees, structures, and everything else in it's path. Finally, it reached the ditch, which immediately started filling up.
"It's too much! We're going to overflow!" Katara shouted, just as another explosion rocked the mountain. Looking up, Rin saw a burst of rocks lava shoot up from the top of the volcano. One of the rocks landed in the lava near the village, causing a wave to surge towards the group.
That's it, I'm outta here, Rin thought as she started running back through the village, followed by Katara and Sokka. However, as she realized that Aang wasn't with them, Rin looked back and saw him fighting the lava with bursts of air, trying to keep the fiery liquid at bay.
"Avatar, If you want to live, you need to retreat!" Rin shouted, but Aang didn't heed her words. Instead, he stood his ground, blowing an intense gust of wind just as the wave of hot lava surged over the ditch. The two forces collided, and the lava cooled instantly, forming a tall wall of volcanic rock that extended to both sides of the village.
"Wow," Rin whispered. This would be one of the first times she had been awestruck by anything.
"That kid is one powerful bender," Sokka commented, looking up at Aang.
"What?" Katara asked, getting a confused look from Sokka.
"Nothing, I just said that Aang's a powerful bender," Sokka replied as a look of realization came over Katara's face.
"I suppose he is," Katara muttered, looking up at Aang. The three stood there, looking up at the Avatar as gray ash stopped floating down from the volcano. The eruption was over.
"I kind of borrowed your cloud book," Aang said sheepishly as Aunt Wu took the book back.
"So you messed with the clouds, eh?" Aunt Wu snapped, before reverting to a satisfied grin. "Very clever."
"No offense, but I hope this taught a valuable to all of you. You can't just rely on fortune telling all the time," Sokka said to the townspeople.
"But Aunt Wu said that the village would survive, and it did," one of the townsfolk commented. Sokka gritted his teeth and approached the man, but Rin stepped in front of him.
"Let me handle this," she whispered to Sokka before turning to the man. "You only survived because you took matters into your own hands. If we weren't here, you wouldn't have been prepared for the eruption, and you would be under ten feet of rock right now. Remember that."
As the man contemplated what Rin had just told him, Aang finished up talking with Aunt Wu. The group climbed onto Appa and waved goodbye to the village before setting off into the sky.
"Aang, I think I have to apologize," Rin said as they leveled out.
"Hm? For what?" Aang asked.
"For not thinking you were right to be the Avatar," Rin explained. "I thought you were irresponsible and naive. You got captured by the Fire Nation, you refused to kill animals, and you made useless trinkets with precious resources. Now don't get me wrong: I still don't think you're right in those two aspects. But after seeing you help the village with the volcano, along with that impressive display of bending, I felt like you would be able to handle being the Avatar. So for doubting you, I apologize."
"Don't worry about it," Aang replied. "You were just trying to do what was best for the group, though you were pretty harsh in doing it."
"Glad you managed to do that," Sokka said. "So where are we going now?"
"To the north pole!" Aang shouted, grinning from ear to ear.
"That's a long way off..." Rin mumbled, but regardless, they flew north, awaiting the adventures to come.
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