Chapter 10

The wind blew fiercely and sand whipped at his face. He had been in this forsaken desert for days and couldn't quite find it. It had to be around here somewhere. He crested another dune and saw more endless hills of sand.

He fell to his knees and wailed. The frustration was overwhelming. He reached into the pocket on his traveling robe and opened the scroll. It was a map which apparently said he was in the correct spot. He pitched the scroll aside and returned to his feet. As he prepared to descend down the dune his foot got snagged on something, sending him tumbling down into the small valley.

Screaming in frustration again, he righted himself and brushed off the sand. Furious he climbed the dune to see what he had tripped on. It was a small stone spire, the kind you see on the top of a very large building.

The sudden realization struck him as he scrambled to retrieve the discarded scroll. The spire on the map matched this spire.

"Hmmm…it appears I need to start digging," the man said with an evil chuckle…

Meanwhile...

It had been a month or so since Aang's battle with Koh. He and Gyatso had left the Northern Water Tribe already and made a beeline to Kyoshi Island. Gyatso said Aang would learn something from walking the grounds of his past life, Avatar Kyoshi.

The island was beautiful with many historical sites detailing Kyoshis life. At one point she had defeated an Earthbender Warlord bent on dominating the entire Earth Kingdom. Kyoshi merely split her home away from the mainland and the Warlord defeated himself.

Aang was introduced to the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She was a tall stocky woman by the name of Kari. She was the only Earthbender among her group of warriors and had accepted the role as his Earthbending teacher. While Aang had Earthbent before, without the help of the other Avatars, it was proving to be quite difficult.

"Again!"

Aang stomped hard on the ground and only managed to make a couple of pebbles wiggle. His objective was to make the large boulder next to him levitate.

"You must center your mass! Anchor yourself…be part of the earth."

"I'm trying…"

When you are someone who is light as air, it was exceptionally difficult. So Aang widened his stance and stiffened his body. He lifted his foot and stomped again. This time the pebble shot straight into the air but the boulder remained still. Aang hung his head.

"That was a bit better. I know how difficult it must be. My Grandmother had the hardest time learning Firebending oddly enough. Even though she had a fierce heart she wasn't the most agile of people. But after years of tedious training, she too mastered it."

"I don't have years….wait, you're Kyoshi's granddaughter?"

"That is correct. My mother learned from her and I from my mother."

"Are you skilled with the fans?"

"To some degree yes."

Aang's face contorted as he began to think, the look on his face startled Kari a bit. "Avatar? What is-"

"I've got it!" Aang hollered "Train me with the fans!"

"Of course… using your own element to pave the way for Earthbending. The student really is the Master at times Young Avatar."

Kari retrieved a pair of fans for the two. She instructed Aang on the specific movements, firing cabbage sized rocks into the air easily. At first Aang was only able to fire blasts of air from the fans. With these his Airbending was amplified and one attempt nearly blew Kari away.

"You are not focusing on Earthbending!" she yelled over the winds. "Center yourself!"

Aang stomped his feet into stance again. He brought the fans down sharply as he stomped, the force of his stomp released a gust of air that launched him several hundred feet into the air. But he also noticed something else, the boulder was following him. Aang's joy at finally doing it was cut short as he began to fall. Without his glider it wasn't going to be a pretty landing.

Another idea snapped into Aang's head. He removed the ties keeping his boots on and tied the fans quickly to his feet. Using his bending he manipulated them so he was somewhat walking on air. But the boulder continued to fall.

Kari watched the scene unfold from the ground, Aang had no way to center himself so she was sure she would have to step in at the last moment to prevent the boulder from causing any damage. But the Young Avatar would surprise her again. Controlling the air currents around him Aang got himself upright. The ground was rapidly approaching and the boulder was several feet below him. Taking his stance he shot his hand out and drew it back towards his body, the boulder did slow but still fell rapidly. Aang continued to try but he just couldn't get a grasp on the boulder.

Kari shot a fist into the air and the boulder burst into a cloud of dust while Aang gently floated down onto the ground. He was out of breath and looked close to passing out.

"Well done Aang. You may just get this yet. We will finish for the day, you need some nourishment."

Meanwhile...

Piles of sand surrounded him but he finally unburied a small opening and he was about to crawl in. It was a mistake as he plummeted several feet before an updraft slowed his descent. He grabbed an old vine that was plastered to the wall and eased his way down.

He ended up on a narrow walkway; the sound of feathers rustling greeted his ears. A dark shadow darted overhead and a large figure landed behind him. In the dim light the man turned to see a massive owl facing him. They were nose to beak before the creature spoke.

"To what do I owe the pleasure…Koh."