Avatar the Last Airbender Fan Fiction: Final Chapter in 3 part chapter story
Chapter 3: Appa's Rescue
After reluctantly rescuing Zuko from a horrible fate by the giant man-eating spiders, Aang and his friends left him safe but temporarily out of commission still bound in the spider ropes and now set off to find Appa, their flying bison captured by Fire Nation soldiers.
The afternoon was waning fast with dusk approaching as the trio made their way as quickly as possible to the meadow Aang had sent Appa to graze in.
As they passed through a grove of tall mango trees Katara and Aang were once again over-whelmed by a powerful stench and held their hands over their noses. "What is that horrible smell?" Katara asked looking over at her brother.
Sokka threw her a dirty look. "All right, let's not start that again!"
"Not you, that other bad smell."
"Oh," Sokka replied, and then suddenly stepped in something squishy. "Eww!" Lifting his foot he examined the bottom of his boot which was covered in something slimy that smelled even worse than the pack of skunk-rats he'd had the misfortune to encounter earlier. It was a piece of rotted, fermenting fruit. He stuck out his tongue in disgust as he wiped his boot on the grass. He then noticed the ground was covered with similar half-eaten fruit.
Just then something large and black swooped down in front of him then soared over his head. Katara and Sokka ducked low. Sokka quickly withdrew his boomerang. "Ahhhh! What was that! What was that!" he demanded in a high pitched voice.
"Take it easy, guys. It's just a vampire fruit bat," Aang said pointing.
Sure enough another large bat swooped down, grabbed a piece of the smelly fruit and flew back up into the tree. Katara gasped and huddled closer to Aang. Glancing upward she noticed the tree was filled with the giant creatures. "There must be hundreds of them!"
Aang suddenly felt a little embarrassed with Katara standing so close. He cleared his throat then looked up at the sky which began to take on an orange tinge. "It's getting late. They must be waking up to feed."
"Great! Giant man-eating spiders and now vampire bats. Are there any more creatures around here that would like to make us their next meal we should know about?" Sokka demanded.
"They're perfectly harmless, Sokka. They're just after the rotting fruit," Aang explained. "It's a delicacy. We used to have them in the caves below the Southern Air Temple. The lemurs didn't get along with them very much."
"Well I vote we get out of here before they decide to try us next!" Sokka replied.
Suddenly they heard a commotion a short distance away. Fearing more Firebenders, the three ducked quickly behind one of the large trees. The noise continued but didn't seem to be getting any closer. Aang cautiously peeked out from behind the tree, and then to Sokka's surprise, sprang excitedly from their hiding place.
"Momo!" The flying lemur was in the middle of a tug-of-war with one of the bats over a piece of fruit. As Momo looked up, the bat snatched the fruit, flicked its tongue and disappeared into the tree. The lemur hoped over and onto Aang's shoulder, wrapping his long tail around his head. "Good to see you boy."
Katara and Sokka joined them. "Momo, where's Appa?" Aang asked. The lemur jumped off his shoulder and headed through the woods. The trio followed. When they reached the edge of a small meadow, all three crouched low behind some bushes and looked out across the small clearing. There in the center near several large rocks was Appa surrounded by at least a dozen or more Fire Nations soldiers guarding him.
Aang took out the bison whistle and blew. Across the clearing, Appa raised his woolly head and let out a loud "Grrrrr!" He shook his body then flapped his massive tail attempting to take flight, but something was holding him back. Firebenders quickly surrounded him, shooting warning flames at the bison's face until he backed down.
Angered, Aang impulsively leaped up to try and help him, but Sokka pulled him back. "Let me go!"
"You just can't go barging in there Aang. There's just too many Firebenders."
"But they're hurting him!"
"Aang, Sokka's right. You'll be no good to us or Appa if you get caught."
"But what are we going to do?"
"I don't know, but we'll think of a plan," Sokka reassured him. Reluctantly Aang settled back down but gripped his staff tightly until his knuckles were white.
Sokka examined the scene before him. There were too many Firebenders to risk a direct attack. "We need some kind of distraction. Something to lure the Firebenders away," he said thoughtfully out loud. It was then he noticed one of the vampire bats flying overhead against the orange sky. He wondered. "I think I've got an idea. Come on." He led them back to the mango trees where the bats were getting more active.
"Why are we back here?" Katara asked nervously.
"I've got a plan. It's a little crazy but it just might work." Sokka was busy gathering up the rotting fruit into a pile.
"What are you doing?" Katara asked.
"The bats are attracted to this stinky fruit right?'
"Yeah. So what?"
"So I figure where the fruit goes the bats ought to follow." Aang was beginning to see where Sokka was leading. As the three gathered up the fruit, Sokka outlined his plan. Taking the satchel off his shoulder, Sokka stuffed it with fruit, and then pounded it into a pulp with a rock until it was a slimy drippy mess leaking from the bag. He handed the bag to Aang.
Meanwhile Katara had gathered up another pile and did the same. "Wait until we get into position and do our thing. We'll signal you when we're ready."
Aang nodded. Sokka and Katara slowly crept into the clearing using the tall grass to hide their progress. When they were within a reasonable distance of the Firebenders now huddled together, Sokka rose, took a handful of the slimy pulp and tossed it near the soldiers. When one of the Firebenders suddenly turned towards them, Sokka and Katara quickly dropped to the ground. But after a few seconds, he simply wrinkled his nose and moved a few paces away. Sokka let out a sigh of relief. Circling, they repeated the process until the fermented fruit was spread throughout the area.
They then positioned themselves as close to Appa as they dared without being seen. Sokka cupped his hands together and made a fluttering, chirping sound like a common prairie dog.
Aang, waiting at the edge of the clearing, popped open the glider. He looked down at Momo. "Come on boy, that's our signal."
Gripping the satchel of pulpy fermented fruit, Aang leapt in the air and started circling the mango trees. In no time the giant bats started to stir. Dipping low, he blew an air blast into the canopy stirring the bats up into a wild frenzy. They took flight and, picking up the scent of the fermented fruit, followed Aang as he led them towards the clearing.
One of the Firebenders pointed upward as he noticed Aang approaching. But before they could do anything, Aang rained the contents of the bag on top of the soldiers below. Attracted by the scent, the mass of bats nosed dived downward. Fire Nation soldiers started scattering in all directions.
Aang kept them further distracted by circling around and dipping low. "Hey, over here!" Those soldiers not being attacked by the bats turned their attention away from Appa and were busy trying to shoot Aang out of the air with fire blasts. Those soldiers without bending abilities used their spears. He easily evaded them, laughing. "Is that the best you've got?"
Momo, not to be left out of the action swooped down and tipped several of the soldier's helmets down over their faces so they couldn't see.
When a couple of the soldiers suddenly started heading back towards Appa, Aang swooped low, knocking a couple of them down with his glider. One of the Firebenders turned and shot a fire blast at him which came a little too close even for Aang's comfort. He was forced to pull back up as the flame shot past him, igniting the brush in the clearing. "Whoa!" Glancing over, he noticed the tip of his glider was singed. Aang was forced to circle a little higher as their aim improved. As the fire started to spread, black billowy smoke rose out of the clearing.
Meanwhile, Katara and Sokka had made their move. When they reached the bison, they noticed a thick chain secured around one of his six legs. Appa let out a growl straining against it, but it remained firmly wrapped around a large rock. Sokka examined the link lock.
"What are we going to do?" Katara asked.
"We need to find something to break this lock off." He picked up a rock and started pounding it.
Then one of the soldiers suddenly noticed Sokka and Katara. He turned and tried to throw a spear at them but just then one of the giant bats suddenly landed on the front of his helmet. The soldier's eyes widened, "Ahhhh!" Running blindly around trying to wrench his helmet off, the soldier ran right into Appa who let out a growl then head butted the soldier sending him sailing across the clearing and into the backs of two Firebenders. All three slumped unconscious to the ground in a piled heap.
The spear landed harmlessly in the grass a few feet from Sokka. He looked at it curiously. "This will do!" Taking the spear he jammed it into the lock trying to pry it open.
Meanwhile Prince Zuko had at last managed to free himself from the spider bindings and was on his way back when he ran into Iroh.
"Prince Zuko!" his uncle exclaimed relieved. "Are you all right?" Zuko merely clenched his teeth and growled. But it was then he noticed the black smoky cloud rising a short distance away. "What is that?"
Iroh looked over in the direction Zuko was pointing. His eyes widened slightly and stroked his beard as if in thought. "I believe that is the Avatar trying to rescue his flying buffalo."
"What!" Zuko raced towards the smoke. "Come on Uncle, we need to get over there before he has a chance to escape."
Iroh sighed as once again he followed his nephew. He definitely was getting way too old for this kind of thing.
Though the smoke was providing an added screen, it was also starting to drive the bats away. Aang landed his glider in front of Sokka and Katara.
"Come on guys. What's the hold up?"
Gritting his teeth, Sokka replied. "I can't break the lock." Suddenly the spear broke in half sending him backwards onto his butt.
Just then three more Firebenders snuck up on them from behind the bison. "Look out!" Katara cried as a fire blast came right at them. Sokka ducked low to the ground as the flame shot straight at him through the chain. Aang quickly produced an air shield over his friends.
As the second Firebender moved into position, he unfortunatelycame alittle too close to Appa's back end. The bison turned its head and growled then fanned its tail. A massive jet stream of air sent the unsuspecting Firebender sailing skyward.
When the first Firebender tried to blast them again, Aang noticed the chain grew red hot against the heat and it gave him an idea. Still blocking the blasts with his shield he shouted for Sokka and Katara to get aboard Appa.
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't have time to explain. Just get aboard Appa quick and hold on tight."
As Zuko and Iroh approached the clearing they noticed a peculiar sight. A soldier was sailing through the air heading for the tops of the surrounding tree lined forest. "Hurry, Uncle!"
The remaining two Firebenders continued to shoot fire blasts at Aang through the chain. Twirling his staff rapidly about to deflect the flames, Aang shouted, "Appa! Yip-Yip! Appa Yip-Yip!" With each fire blast the chain grew hotter and as the bison strained against it, the links began to warp and stretch out.
Katara and Sokka watched anxiously aboard Appa. Aang was deliberately keeping himself close to the Firebenders in order to direct their blast at the chain, but they could see the strain on his face. He wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. Suddenly one of the fire blasts knocked Aang's staff from his hands. "Aang look out!" Sokka called out.
Aang did a sideways flip to avoid the blast, landing on his stomach then had to immediately roll to the other side to avoid a second blast. Sokka took out his boomerang and sliced it through the air knocking one of the Firebenders down while Katara urged the bison, "Come on Appa, pull! Yip-Yip! Yip-Yip!"
The bison let out one last tremendous groan and suddenly the chain snapped. It was then Katara spotted a familiar figure racing towards them. "Aang! It's Zuko!" Aang quickly retrieved his staff and leapt aboard the bison as Appa took flight.
"After them," he shouted to his men. But all around soldiers were either still fleeing from bats chasing them or trying to stagger to a standing position. As Iroh caught up with his nephew he had to quickly jump to the side as flames shot heatedly out of Zuko's clenched fists. As the flying creature disappeared into the smoky cloud above, Zuko was forced once again to watch the Avatar escape.
The End
