Avatar The Flame of Animosity
The Ruins of The Southern Air Temple
Disclaimer
Even science cannot explain why I cannot have ownership of Avatar the Last Airbender or its characters.
The surface of the water rushed closer towards the trio. Sokka flailed wildly, making breaststroke motions in a desperate attempt to slow his fall. Toyoshi closed his eyes and braced for impact.
Amidst the chaos, Katara remained calm. She fixed her eyes on the river's gleaming surface and reached out. She imagined the water reaching out like an outstretched hand, catching them before their fall became deadly.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, so Katara pulled harder, urging the water to rise for her. But despite her effort, the surface of the river continued to flow on, undisturbed by her bending. As the ground grew closer, the dread began to sink in. Katara closed her eyes, resigning to their fate.
Suddenly, they weren't falling anymore. The trio opened their eyes uneasily. They hovered barely a hundred feet from the surface of the river. It was as if an invisible force had slowed their fall, catching them before they landed. The invisible force vanished, and gravity resumed its course. The trio clung tightly to each other, anticipating the rush of cold water below. Eyes shut tight they descended.
With a soft "Fwoomp" they landed on what seemed to be a wooly cloud. The cloud rumbled and began to float away from the river. It rose until they were clear of the tower, then suddenly it lurched forward, swooping past the commander and his guards.
"Shoot them down!" the commander screamed.
His command was promptly followed by the sound of a dozen archers notching their arrows, firebenders marching out into position, and the grating sound of the trebuchet and ballistae swiveling into position.
The commander grinned viciously and held his hand high. With a mighty swing and yell, the full force of the tower's defenses came toward the trio.
In an instant, the flames were blown away, the arrows tossed aside, and the enormous boulders and artillery were sent flying from whence they came.
As their transport soared farther from the tower, Toyoshi heard mischievous laughter.
The cloud flew to the far end of the island, towards the peak of a narrow mountain. It came to a stop at the maw of a large cave, settling on the stone floor.
Sokka, Katara, and Toyoshi breathed a collective sigh of relief and slid off their mysterious savior. As they awkwardly set their gear down, the trio took in their strange surroundings, leaning against each other in exhaustion.
Although still hidden in darkness, it was clear that the cave was quite long. The interior of the cave was decorated with intricate drawings of robbed figures. Although their paints long since faded, their mute tones still boasted a variety of colors.
"Weird," Sokka mumbled, wiping the soot off of Katara's face.
He bent down and rustled through his bag and pulled out a long wick with a handle. He stuck the tip on the floor, igniting it. He passed the flame to Toyoshi, who held it closer to the wall.
It depicted a young man, with long dark hair. He stood among four people,
One wore scarlet robes and carried a flame in their palm.
Another wore saffron and carried a gust of wind
A third wore sapphire and held a drop of rain
The last wore moss-colored robes and held stones.
Each person stood on the back of a lion turtle, holding their hands toward the man. The lion turtles glared fiercely as if they were staring back at you.
The mural continued along the wall, depicting fluffy beasts soaring the skies and cheery monks soaring beside them, occasionally interrupted by a detailed portrait of a wise monk.
The trio stood in awe, gawking at the masterful art. They were so stunned they had not noticed a figure creep behind them.
"BOO!" a voice cried.
The trio yelped, scurrying towards the far wall.
The voice giggled mischievously and approached them quietly. Their footsteps light and soundless, they were invisible in the dim cave. Toyoshi looked around frantically, swinging the torch wildly. Sokka stood defensively, boomerang in hand.
"Hey! Whatcha up too?" the voice asked, suddenly beside them.
Sokka shrieked, lobbing the boomerang in the speaker's direction. Toyoshi held the torch further and bringing the mysterious figure to light. The frightened teens were met with the sight of a young girl dressed in saffron robes beaming at them, with hair the color of roasted chestnut. Her silver eyes glimmered with a mischievous curiosity.
The girl giggled and asked again, "Whatcha doin?"
"Gah!" Sokka squeaked. "I mean," Sokka cleared his throat, "We should be asking you." He stood as authoritatively as possible, catching his boomerang close to his face. "What's a little kid like you doing so close to a fire navy outpost?"
"Oh, well I'm a traveling nomad taking a break from my adventure around the whole world!" She did a cheerful cartwheel.
"Uhuh," Sokka answered, his usual suspicion plain as day.
"My name's Akki, and this is Tou," she held out a fluffy winged animal. "She's a rare flying lemur, and she loves cuddles!" She squealed, squeezing the disgruntled lemur.
"Oh and this is my flying bison, Apaku!" she pointed towards the "cloud" that had brought them here. "She's shy, but secretly wants to become a world-famous theater actress," she whispered to Toyoshi.
Sokka rolled his eyes in disbelief "Right, and this is my flying sister Katar- Ow." He was interrupted by Katara giving him a rapid smackdown.
"What are you stupid?" she screamed dragging him off to the side. "How can you say something so dense after what we've just been through?" she scolded, launching into a full-on motherly rant.
"Uhm... I'm so sorry for them." Toyoshi frantically apologized. "Oh, and thank you for saving us earlier." he bowed.
"Oh, no problem! I don't like that grumpy old man anyway, so it was nice seeing him freak out." she beamed, with the force of the sun.
"So, do you live here?" he asked tentatively
"Oh, just for now. I'm currently on a pilgrimage to the four airbending temples." she sat against the wall.
"Is that safe?" Toyoshi looked over in shock, "With all those Fire nation posts?"
"Well no."
"Oh. Then why?" Toyoshi knelt beside Akki
"Well a hundred years ago, my people would travel all over the world, meeting people of all kinds. We'd stop in every village or city." She turned to face the mural, putting her feet up.
"As a rite of passage, a sort of step towards becoming a full-grown adult, we would travel for a year and visit the four air temples."
"Wow, really?" Toyoshi leaned back, "So, how many have you been to so far."
"One…" she answered slowly.
"Oh," Toyoshi blushed.
"After only six months of searching, I've finally found the western air temple!" she leaped to her feet in triumph.
Toyoshi was silent for a moment. "Wait a minute," he pulled out one of the various sea charts he a "borrowed".
"Aren't we at the southern air temple?" he laid the chart flat.
Akki stood over the map and squinted at it for a while. Suddenly she gasped, "Oh noooo!"
She ruffled her hands through her hair. "We're nowhere near the western air temple!" She dashed around, causing the wind to violently billow about.
"Apaku!" She pushed on the bison's large body. "We. Need. To. Go! wah!" Apaku rolled over, nearly crushing her.
"Uh, maybe you should avoid pushing around a ten-ton animal," Toyoshi looking over with worry.
"Fine, I'll leave her for now." she reluctantly walked over.
Taking her seat again, she looked excitedly over towards Toyoshi, "How bout in the meantime you tell me your story!"
"Oh, uh… are you sure?" Toyoshi asked, quietly."
"Yeah!" Sokka slung his arm over Toyoshi. "I wanna know about the mysterious "Toyoshi" too!"
"Get off him!" Katara shooed Sokka away. "He still needs a few more healing sessions!"
"Fine," He grumpily lumbered off.
"I mean I guess I could share some…" Toyoshi mumbled
Sokka halted mid-step and turned back towards Toyoshi, "Really?! I mean, that is if you really want to." He turned away.
"At least let me heal your wounds while you talk." Katara pleaded with him.
"Sure. Oh and by the way, thanks again for taking care of me."
"Don't worry about it too much," Katara blushed lightly.
As Katara began unwrapping his arm again, he took a steady breath.
Sokka and Akki excitedly scooted closer.
Toyoshi breathed again.
"So, the tragedy called my life, started some sixteen years ago."