Chp.10 Together Again

On instinct I raised my left arm to shield my face & punched up with my right even though I knew it was still a few feet away from me. A giant slab of Earth came up out of nowhere, knocking the bear back! I moved my fist higher & the slab rose! The bear made a funny noise & laid a… egg? before disappearing into the woods.

"Not bad, you're gonna make a fine Earthbender," Tasyk said as he helped me to my feet.

"Thanks," I said with a yawn. It was getting late & I was getting tired.

"That was weird," The Dalton said, staring at the egg curiously.

"No kidding, this world has some weird animals: Flying Bison, Platypus Bears, flying lemurs, elk you ride on," Lynx muttered.

"Speaking of weird animals, isn't that the mutant flying beaver?" I asked, pointing at the approaching Appa in the sky.

"It is! Guys! Down here!" Lynx bellowed at them.

"Lynx! The Dalton! Seabiscuit!" Aang yelled as he steered Appa towards us.

"Hey!" I cried, racing to hug my friends. Aang & Katara welcomed the hug, Sokka just glared at me.

"You guys have mastered Waterbending already? It's been only been a few weeks!"

"Katara has & she's gonna teach me, but the North Pole got attacked by the Fire Nation," Aang said as he leaped down.

"Whoa! Okay, you fill us in & we'll fill you in," Lynx said sitting down.

"Deal," Katara said. I noticed Sokka was acting weird, he kept staring at the moon. Aang began.

"Alright, this is what happened to us…"

He told us everything that happened to them at the North Pole giving us an explanation for the yellow spot on Katara's parka, it was the mark of a Master Waterbender, & the reason Sokka kept staring at the moon, Princess Yue.

"This is what happened here…" Lynx told them everything that happened since they left. The elk, the accidents, & how we finally became friends with Haru.

"Pretty exciting for all of us, so what are we gonna do now?" Katara asked.

"Don't know, we need to discuss it," Aang said thoughtfully.

"Can you guys help us any? I mean we all just lost our homes," Tasyk asked.

"I don't know. What could we do? How many are there?" Aang asked.

"The herders, Haru & me, about twenty plus the elk," Tasyk said, tears starting to roll down his face.

"Is Haru's family okay?" Katara asked worriedly.

"His dad is but his mom was in the building that blew up," I replied sadly.

"This stinks," The Dalton murmured.

"No kidding," Sokka replied, the first thing he'd said since arriving.

"So what are we going to do? Where are you going to go to learn Earthbending?" I asked Aang.

"I don't know, Haru could teach me I guess since he's going to teach you," Aang suggested.

"I'm not a Master, you have to master Earthbending, not just learn it," Haru's voice came from behind us, "I followed you."

"He's right, what about if we head to Omashu? You could learn from King Bumi," Katara suggested.

"That would work, we'd have to head south again," Aang said.

Suddenly a deep voice came from Aang's mouth. "Head to Ba Sing Se to find a Master."

"Avatar Roku!" Katara gasped as the arrow on Aang's head lit up momentarily.

"I guess we're going to Ba Sing Se then," Aang said as the arrow faded.

"What was that?" I asked sharply.

"Well, basically Aang is a reincarnate & one of his past lives just told us what to do," Katara replied flatly.

"Oh, well then, shall we head to Ba Sing Se?" Lynx suggested.

"I need to my dad we're leaving then," Haru said abruptly.

"You're coming with us?" Katara & I gasped.

"Seabiscuit, I promised I'd teach you Earthbending & I can teach Aang some of the basics to help prepare him," Haru replied.

"If we're gonna find a master, Biscuit can learn from them," the Dalton snorted.

"I said I would teach her & I intend to keep my word," Haru said firmly.

"Let him come if he wants to, but what are we gonna do about the elk? Can Appa carry them?" I asked.

"Uh, probably not," Aang said worriedly, "too much weight."

"Who are you?" Sokka asked suddenly, turning to Tasyk as he stretched.

"I'm Tasyk, the blacksmith's assistant," he answered.

"Are you gonna come with us?" Sokka asked.

"Wasn't planning on it but I got to do something before ya'll leave, when are you gonna leave?" Tasyk asked.

"In a day or two, we should let Appa rest a bit," Aang said.

"Ok Seabiscuit, I should have your order by then," Tasyk told me.

"What order?" Lynx & the Dalton yelled suspiciously.

"Something you don't to know about," I growled at them before turning to Tasyk, "How are you going to do it? You lost the forge!"

"I'm like Haru, I said I was gonna do something so I'm gonna to do it," Tasyk said.

"DO WHAT?" The Dalton & Lynx bellowed.

"Get your minds out of the gutter," I growled at them.

"& if you want, I'll keep Shazzam for you," he offered.

"Thanks, I wish I could take him with me," I said softly.

"Wait a sec, what if Haru, Lynx & the Dalton rode the elk to Ba Sing Se," the Dalton suggested.

"That might work, I know the way," Haru said, "I'll ride Shazzam."

"Why can't I?" I asked.

"You're hurt!" Lynx & the Dalton fussed at me.

"If you're riding my elk how are you gonna teach me Earthbending?" I asked grumpily. "Not to mention you two are not going on a cross country trip without me!" I snarled at my friends.

"How about this: you guys wait a few extra days, I'll fill Seabiscuit's order & then head out with the elk, I'll meet you guys at Ba Sing Se," Tasyk suggested.

Half of us said yes the other half said no.

Then the half that said yes said no & the half that said no said yes.

"Deal," we all said together after exchanging confused looks. I suddenly yawned very loudly.

"Whoops!" I said clapping a hand over my mouth.

"I take it its time to hit the hay," Lynx said, "Do you guys have our sleeping bags? Its not like we can go sleep in beds now."

"Yeah," Sokka said as he climbed up Appa's tail & threw them to us.

I hopped into my sleeping bag & snuggled down before resting my head on Lynx's six pack of a stomach. The Dalton set his head gently on my stomach as Katara flopped down with us.

"Good night!"

I think it took about three seconds before I was sound asleep.

The next morning I was awoken by Lynx's voice, "Yo, Biscuit! Wakey wakey, eggs & bakey!"

"Ha ha," I muttered before rolling off of him.

"What are we doing today?" I asked sleepily.

"Not much, just letting Appa rest," The Dalton said.

"How about you guys teach us to play that game?" Aang suggested brightly.

"That's not fair, I can't play, I'm hurt," I whined, only half teasing.

"Come with me to that stream & I'll heal you," Katara offered.

"Okay," I said hesitatingly.

"Come on," she said impatiently, hauling me to my feet. We hopped up on Shazzam, I clucked to him & we were bounding off towards the stream. Shazzam splashed right into the clean sparkling stream as Katara & I dove off & began treading water. I couldn't see what Katara was doing because her hands were under water but I felt a warm sensation then all the pain left my body.

"Whoa!" I yelled.

"Now you can play & teach Aang," she said as she swam to shore. I put an arm around Shazzam's neck & let him pull me to shore. I swung up on him & gave Katara a hand, "Ha! Ha!" Shazzam leaped forward, carrying us back to the waiting boys.

"Biscuit, you're better!" Lynx yelled.

"You got it! I'm back in action!" I cheered, "Thanks Katara!"

"No problem," she replied. Aang threw my ball to me, I chested it easily.

"Okay, let's play!" I yelled as it dropped to the ground.

"Alright, this is a soccer ball & the name of the game is soccer! There are a lot of rules to this game but first we're gonna need some goals."

"How about those two trees, that rock & the bush," Lynx said, pointing to makeshift field.

"Okay, the point in soccer is to kick the ball into the goal," The Dalton announced.

"Where does bending come in?" Aang asked.

"No bending allowed, the main rule in soccer is you cannot tough the ball with your hands," Lynx said firmly. I about burst out laughing at the look on Aang's face at "No bending allowed."

"Okay, we'll show you guys the basics & then we can divide into teams so we can scrimmage," the Dalton said.

"Okay when you kick you have to make sure to hit it with the top of your foot, not your toe," I said before demonstrating. I hit the ball dead center & it flew straight between the two trees beautifully.

"Nice shot, Biscuit," Lynx said as he ran to get it.

"Okay now this is the dribble, how you move the ball up & down the field." He moved easily, keeping the ball close to his body, using the outsides of his feet. When he was about ten feet away, he passed to the Dalton.

"That was a pass, remember you can use any part of your body to move the ball, except your hands," The Dalton said, "Alright, Lynx & Biscuit are captains, pick."

"The Dalton is with me," Lynx said.

"I call Katara," I yelled.

"Aang," Lynx said.

"Sokka!" I chirped.

"Tasyk," Lynx called.

"Haru!" I cried.

"Alright, my team over here," Lynx said, leading them so they would be defending the tree goal.

"Okay," I turned to my team. "Katara, you're going to try to kick the ball between the goals, Haru you are going to defend our goal." I suddenly turned to the others,

"Goalies or no goalies?"

"Goalies!" Lynx yelled.

"Okay Sokka, you stand between the rock & the bush. Don't let the ball in, you can use your hands," I said.

"I thought you couldn't use your hands?" Sokka asked.

"The goalies can," I replied.

"What are you gonna do?" Katara asked.

"I'll be in between you & Haru, I'm helping both of you," I answered.

"Okay, let's play then," Haru said. I glanced at the other team, Lynx was at forward, Aang was goalie, the Dalton was defense & Tasyk was midfield like me.

"Tweet!" The Dalton yelled, beginning the game. Lynx tapped it back to Tasyk. He tried to dribble but stumbled & sent it to Katara by accident. I shot down field, ready for a pass. She shot, completely missing me, getting it stuck in one of the trees about ten feet behind us.

"I got it!" I yelled, racing to the tree. I grabbed the lowest branch & pulled myself up; I climbed the rest easily until I got to the branch below the ball, about 15 feet in the air. I yanked on the ball, but it wouldn't come loose.

"It's really stuck!" I pulled really hard with both hands & it came out, I let it drop to the ground. Suddenly it hit me I wasn't holding on to anything as I lost my balance!

"Crap!" I screamed.

I fell straight into Haru's arms. He'd bended over to catch me.

"Gotcha!"