Chapter 2 the Silent Town
Aang and his friends were making their way from the Earth Kingdom capital. But it did them no good to stop because they had no money to buy food except for the fish Sokka earned from the fisherman at the market. "I'm starving. That fish hardly lasted in my stomach" Sokka moaned. "Don't worry; we're heading to Hyshono, another part of the earth nation." Aang replied optimistically. "So, it's not like we have money to buy anything." "You'll see!" The ride over the waters was long and it would be three days until they reached Hyshono. At nightfall, they made a stop at a town on a small island. "You don't think these people might keep us in for the night, do you?" Katara asked Aang. "Dunno…." He answered with doubt. "Let's find out…" Sokka said and went to one of the villagers. "Hey. Ummmm… would you be kind enough to let us stay with you for the night?" "NO…" replied the man sternly. "He sure is nice." Sokka said sarcastically. So they went on, each taking turns to ask someone if they could spend the night in shelter. But the only answer they got was 'NO'.
"This is hopeless. We might as well keep traveling." Sokka muttered under his breath. "Well, Appa's tired, too." Aang said. "Where is Appa anyway?" asked Sokka. "He's resting by a bush…don't worry, nobody will notice…" "Yeah, sure. A three ton bison…" "Stop being such a pessimist!" Katara yelled. "Well, I'm hungry and tired." "We all are." Everyone remained silent. Once again, they continued to ask the villagers until finally one let them in, but with great haste. "Hurry inside." She told them. "Thank you so much! I was wondering, why are these people Katara asked not knowing how to describe the people. "They are afraid. They think you might be Fire Nation spies. The soldiers come here every evening to collect our tax. So the people thought might have been them. They haven't arrived yet, maybe in the morning. I saw you three asking the entire time and realized you weren't spies. But you must leave in the morning because the soldiers will come tomorrow, and if they see that you're not one of the villagers, you'll be captured."
The lady prepared a meal for them; Soup and bread. "Oh man, this soup is sooo good!" Sokka complimented, eating viciously. "Thank you! Nobody's ever complimented me that well before." the lady replied. Katara in the meanwhile was looking around and spotted a photo. "What about your husband?" "He went to war. There was a point when men were being drafted into the war because no one dared interfere." she said sadly "And you haven't heard from him since?" "No…" The night went by fast. Everyone fell asleep quickly not noticing that it was late into the morning. "Wake, please hurry..." the lady pleaded, trying to shake them awake. "They're here!" "Who's here?" Aang asked, rubbing his eyes. "The soldiers." Sokka, Aang, and Katara got dressed as quickly as possible. "What now?" Katara asked. "Leave through the back door so they don't see you. But please be careful…." She said ushering them out of the room. "But what can we do to repay you?" Sokka asked. "Just having you all stay here and give me company was payment enough. I'm just an old lady who really doesn't want anything but her husband by her side..." she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "You'll see him one day." Katara said, wiping off the tear and smiled. They left the house and at the last minute Aang stopped, "Thank you." He told her. She nodded and that was the last they saw of the kind lady.
Why didn't I ask what her name was? Aang thought as they rode on Appa. "Everything okay, Aang?" Katara asked. "Yeah, I'm just thinking about that lady." "Don't worry Aang, I'm sure she'll be fine, and I hope she meets her husband again some day." Sokka just sat there silently, thinking about her too, as they rode off into the distant horizon…