Chapter Seven

"We don't mean you any harm! Honestly!" Sokka said, as he felt the knife press harder against his skin.

"Then what are you doing here?" the voice asked.

"We stopped to get supplies before we travel on. We thought maybe the fire nation had taken over this town when we saw no one was here. Wait, are you fire nation?" he ask suspiciously.

"How dare you say such a thing! We would never join those scum." The knife was suddenly pulled away from his throat and he and Aang were released. They quickly picked themselves up from the ground and turned to face their captors.

Sokka gaped in astonishment. Standing in front of him was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was dressed as a warrior, with a green shirt and pants and a brown belt; her hair was held back by a brown ribbon that fluttered behind her in the breeze. She had dark black hair and hazel eyes. She was glaring at them, her hand still clutching the knife.

"Where are you headed?" she asked.

"Um…." Sokka continued to stare at her, dumbstruck.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you looking at?"

Aang jabbed Sokka hard in the ribs. "He's just exhausted from hunger. We're…..headed to the North Pole." Sokka rubbed his side where Aang had hit him and nodded.

"The North Pole?" she looked skeptical. "Not many people come or go from there. It's more of an isolated civilization. Why would you want to travel there?"

"Well…." Aang glanced uncertainly at Sokka. Sokka gave him a look that said Don't tell them anything else. But Aang, being the impatient person that he was, barged on, "I am the Avatar and we're going to the North Pole so that I can learn the rest of my bending skills so I can fight the fire nation." Sokka hit himself in the head.

"Well, well." She stared at them with more interest. "Is that true?" She asked, looking at Sokka.

"Yeah." He muttered, glancing back up at her.

She slowly lowered her knife. "Well in that case it would be honor to help. Anyone who is fighting the fire nation has our respect and what help we can give. Come with me, it's not safe to stand out here." She turned abruptly and they followed her into a small hut. The rest of the people of the village scattered and went their separate ways. She bent down and raised a hidden trapdoor in the floor. "This way." They followed her down some steep wooden stairs.

"Where are we going? Why can't we-" Sokka started to say but just at that moment they reached the bottom of the stairs and he gasped in astonishment.

"Wow!" said Aang breathlessly.

The stairs they had traveled down had led them to the underground hide out of the earth bending town. What they saw was amazing. They were in a huge cave. Huge didn't really even begin to cover it. It was gigantic. Lanterns were hung everywhere and sent beams of light dancing across the cavern. Magnificent two story houses were built along the "walls" of the cave. In the very center was a large open space where people were milling about. The most amazing thing, however, was the back wall. There, running from the top to the bottom, thundered a huge, sparkling waterfall.

"You like it?" she asked, smiling at the boy's reactions.

"It's amazing!" Aang said enthusiastically.

"Yeah." Sokka agreed, looking around in wonder, "But why do you need to live underground?"

She sighed and motioned for them to follow her as she led the way towards a large house to their right. "Come in here and we can sit down and talk."

They entered the house and sat down on the floor around a table.

"By the way," she said, smiling slightly at Sokka, "My name is Shiane."

Sokka felt his heart beat quicken as her eyes met his. Shiane. He thought to himself, What a beautiful name.

She looked down at the table, the smile slipping from her face. "We are here because of the fire nations. A while back, they invaded our lands. They took everyone captive and made slaves of us. Everyone. Men, women, and children alike. If you were old enough to walk then you were old enough to work. It was terrible. No food or water. Hard labor every day. Many people became sick. My father…." She stopped as her voice choked up. She took a breath and started again, "My father tried to fight them. He….was killed. Since I have no brothers or sisters I was the next in line to run the village. I became the leader and I decided that something had to be done. I would not see my people suffer at the hands of the fire lords any longer! So I made a plan. We knew there was an underground cave here but the fire nation did not. Secretly we worked and built houses. It took months but we got it done. Then, one by one, we mysteriously disappeared. They didn't know what was happening to us and us pretending we had no idea what was going on. Finally they left, scared of a plague or some other thing killing all the people. But every now and then they return to make sure no one has come back. That's why we must stay hidden."

They stared at her.

"Wow." Sokka said finally, "That's terrible! I hate those fire bending creeps!"

"Yeah." Aang agreed quietly. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Yes." Shiane said softly. "That is why we can't stay above ground to long. It's just too much of a risk. I will not give the fire nation another chance to make slaves of us. So….you said you needed provisions for your journey right?" She stood up and walked into another room. Sokka and Aang followed her. "Take your pick." She waved her hand towards the far wall. Sokka and Aang gaped. It had shelves from floor to ceiling stocked with food, ropes, everything they could possibly need for their journey.

"Aang?"

"Yeah Sokka?"

"I think I'm in heaven."