Note: I edited the introduction to chapter two. Thanks again Lady Fran for catching my mistake! Also, I raised the rating from K+ to T. Nothing really bad, but just to be safe.


Aang the Brave

Chapter Three

Water, earth, fire, air – the roots from which the world sprang. Since the beginning of time they have served as the roots of identification. A wanderer in a foreign land greets strangers, "I am of the Water Tribe," or "I am from the Earth Kingdom." He cleaves to the truth those words hold. "I am from somewhere. I have a history. I have a home."

But for as long as there have been water, earth, fire, and air, there have been those who pledge their allegiance to no nation. And for as long as there have been mothers with children, there have been stories about them.

They were the outcasts, the unfortunate, the castaways of the nations. Hidden among lofty jungle trees, isolated on wave-forged islands, engulfed in desert sands. These people were enigmas. Over the years mystery turns to fear, and fear puts unruly children to bed.

"Hush, little ones! Go to sleep! Don't you know what happens to children who misbehave?"


By that evening, Aang had mastered Yuka's "dumb trick." By the following evening, he had taught it to Jinju. The next two days passed quietly and very, very slowly. The Northern Air Temple became more distant with each passing hour, and the miles grew longer.

They were on one of the most grueling legs of their journey – two and a half days of continuous flying without even a glimpse of land. Aang loved flying just as much as any other Nomad, and probably more than most. Still, he felt a heavy weariness settle onto his shoulders as he gazed down at the seamless water. He could tell that his companions were feeling it too. Even Appa was irritable.

Aang's stomach dropped as the bison jerked suddenly and began to sink toward the ocean. He pulled hard on the reins just as Appa's feet grazed the waves, and leveled out again. "Sorry, boy. I know you're tired," Aang apologized. He was tired too. They had taken a few hours each night to rest, but Appa didn't sleep well with the waves smacking his sides and salty water smattering his nostrils, and that meant that the four boys on his back did not sleep well either.

His companions had lost all interest in easing the monotony. Aang had tried to coax Yuka into revealing the details of his infamous prank on Monk Uichi, but all he would say was, "The bastard had it coming."

"I don't like that kind of language," Li had warned with a glare.

"I don't give a damn what you like," Yuka retorted. An instant later the two younger boys sat back, amused, as the teenagers volleyed insults – Li with his sleepy sarcasm, and Yuka with his anger boiling up until it spilled over with bubbling oaths that left Aang wide-eyed and Jinju blushing. Yuka stalked to the back of the saddle and sunk into a moody silence. Turning to the remaining two, Li mouthed a satisfied, "I win."

Aang thought, If you're afraid to say it out loud then you haven't really won, and wisely kept the thought to himself.

That had been hours ago, and they had long since given up on idle conversation. Even Jinju had nothing to say.

Appa groaned below him, a rumbling, mournful sound that made Aang's heart ache. He leaned forward and stroked the spot between the bison's eyes, his small hand disappearing in the thick fur. "Hang on, buddy. Just a little while longer." Aang realized that he was reassuring himself too. "We'll be able to land before sunset, I promise."

--

He was able to keep his promise. The sun was just wrapping itself in blankets of red and pink horizon when Aang spotted the far-off and rocky island shape. Euphoria superseded melancholy. It was the kind of feeling, Aang thought, that was so good a person could probably only feel it once or twice in a lifetime. It twisted in his gut and came rebelling from wildly flailing arms. It came screaming and whooping and laughing, and it infected Jinju and Li and Yuka, and they almost forgot how miserable they were supposed to be.

Although eager to run and explore and feast his eyes on the refreshing green of trees, Aang felt that his first responsibility was to Appa. Exhausted, the beast was barely able to drag himself to the beach before he collapsed. The boys quickly fell into routine, first removing their packs from the saddle, then removing the saddle from Appa. Free of his burden, the bison shook mightily, as if to loosen sore muscles. They would let him rest, and put the saddle back on before they went to sleep.

Aang threw himself against Appa's head, arms outstretched in the biggest hug he could manage. "You just rest. I'll find something for you to eat."

Turning to his companions, who were beginning to unpack and set up camp on the beach, Aang announced, "I'm going to find some food before it gets dark."

"Don't worry about it. We still have plenty of food left," said Li from where he sat on the sand, digging through a bag.

"I want to find something for Appa."

Li pointed towards the treeline. "He has plenty of food too." Aang glanced at the tall tropical trees. Their thin, fanlike leaves whispered in the breeze.

"He doesn't really like that kind."

Li furnished a condescending smile. "Forgive me, Aang. I should have expected an animal of his prominence to have a very refined taste." Shrugging, he stood and dusted sand from his clothes. "A leaf's a leaf. But do what you think is right."

Aang held his tongue as he walked away. Let him laugh. Appa deserved only the best.

He had just reached the edge of the forest where delicate shoots of grass began to emerge from the sandy soil when he heard Jinju call, "Wait for me!" He was tempted to dive into the trees and make a run for it, but he stayed put as Jinju plodded through the sand. Together they marched through the dense foliage, shoving aside shrubs and vines with their staffs. With evening approaching, the forest was steadily growing darker, but the two boys continued to push their way from one filmy patch of light to the next. Aang made a quick inspection of the branches of big, heart-shaped leaves, and gathered the ones he thought would interest Appa.

"Boy, am I glad we found this place. For a while there I didn't think we was ever gonna land," Jinju said from behind him.

"Yeah. Somehow it seemed to take longer this time," Aang answered as he struggled with a fibrous branch. The leaves were deep-veined and glossy red underneath. "Hey, help me with this."

"I didn't know we were gonna be flyin' that long," Jinju continued. The two of them held onto the branch and, on Aang's count, pulled hard. "I guess it's 'cause the ocean's so big, and everything in it's so far away from everything else." They stumbled back as the stem snapped. He tucked it under his arm with the rest. "We must be pretty close to the Northern Temple by now," Jinju was saying.

"Not really. Have you looked at the map? We haven't even reached the Fire Nation yet. It'll probably be another three or four days until we get there, and at least a week after that. Watch out for that branch. Don't trip."

"Another week?" He sounded disappointed. Birds bickered overhead, and suddenly two blue blurs rocketed from the canopy and twirled away through the branches. "It's still fun, though. Thanks again for lettin' me come."

"No problem." He smiled, surprising himself.

They walked a little farther before Aang spotted an airy space between the trees and pointed. "Look, there's a clearing up ahead." They pushed through the tangle of shrubs, scurried over a fungi covered log, and fell suddenly into the clearing. It was a small, uneven space. Above, Aang could see rippling pink clouds. The ground was littered with winding shoots, vines, and dusty yellow lumps between the vines. A melon patch, Aang realized.

"Great! Appa will love these. There's enough for us too."

"How do you know if they're ripe?" Jinju mused as they wandered into the patch, carefully picking their way through. "Don't you smack 'em and if they sound hollow -" He pressed one ear to a melon and rapped it with his knuckles.

"You're supposed to shake it, and if it swishes -"

"You hafta make sure it smells sweet -"

"Or if it has a spot on the bottom -"

The melons passed every test they could think of. Aang was trying to figure out how many he could carry, along with his staff and the bunch of leaves, when Jinju spoke up.

"I didn't know that melons grew wild." Aang glanced at him. Jinju stood with a melon under each arm, looking around the patch as if it were a riddle to be solved.

"Yeah, sure they do."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," Aang said. "Anything can grow wild if it has enough sunlight, right?" What was so weird about that? He knelt to pick up a melon with his free arm, balancing it awkwardly on his hip. He could only carry one. If they left now they could probably make a few more trips before dark, and maybe Yuka or Li would help them carry more.

--

"Mmm-mmm!" Juice dribbled down Aang's chin and he wiped it with his sleeve before it could run down his neck. "I love melon!" There were grunts of agreement from everyone but Li, who was trying to wrestle a spark from the flint. Aang spat the flat melon seeds onto the unmarred tinder. Only one missed. He sent it toward the target with a little puff of air.

"Quit it!" Li snapped. "How am I supposed to start a fire if you keep on blowing it out?"

"Give me that," growled Yuka snatching the flint and steel from Li's hands. Within moments sparks streaked through the darkness, and soon Yuka was nesting a healthy flame.

Li frowned. "How did you do that?"

"Firebending. I'm the Avatar. Didn't you know that?"

"Please," Li scoffed. "If you're the Avatar, then the world's in a lot of trouble."

Aang decided to intervene before another argument could develop. "This is a really good melon. I always say that if you're stranded in the middle of a desert you should have a melon. That way you'll have food and water."

Yuka looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You always say that? I've never heard you say that."

"I say it all the time. Every time I eat a melon, I say it." To emphasize his point, he picked up another slice and took a big bite.

Jinju piped up, "It's true. I've heard him say it." Then he turned to Aang. "You know, if you keep eatin' that you're gonna wet the bed tonight."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Thanks, but I think I can handle it." He grabbed one more slice, a small act of defiance.

The stars and moon were shining so brightly that they could all see eachother well enough without the firelight, but Li was worried about curious night animals. He had a point. Usually Aang wouldn't worry with Appa nearby, but the bison had fallen asleep as soon as they had finished placing the saddle on his back. Judging from the long, steady breaths and the occasional twitching of his tail, Appa was sleeping deeply and dreaming. Aang imagined he was dreaming about flying, although he also imagined that after flying for so long Appa would want to dream about anything besides flying. But he couldn't think of anything else a bison would dream about, besides eating, maybe.

"Where did you get all these, anyway?" Li asked as he picked seeds from the melon flesh. There were still four melons left, and they had been careful to gather a couple of unripe ones to eat later on during their trip.

Aang waved towards the forest. "There were a bunch of them growing back there."

"I think someone planted 'em. I really do. You could kinda see how they were in rows." Jinju looked around at the other three boys, waiting for someone to agree with him.

Aang sighed, and he tried to be patient with Jinju. "That's impossible. Who could've planted them? There's nobody on this island but the four of us. I should know – I've been here before, and I've never seen any people."

"Just because you haven't seen anyone doesn't mean there's no one here." Three pairs of eyes turned to Yuka. Aang felt a tiny twist in his stomach, which he attributed to the melon.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe you can't see them, but I bet anything they can see you."

Jinju peeked over his shoulder toward the forest, and scooted closer to the fire. "You think they're... cannibals?" he whispered.

"You said it, not me," Yuka answered with a wicked grin.

Aang forced a laugh. "Why would cannibals plant melons? They eat people, not fruit."

"Well, why would normal people live on a weird island in the middle of the ocean?" Jinju countered.

"What's so weird about an island being in the middle of the ocean?"

Li groaned dramatically. "Nice going, Yuka. You just had to go and get them scared, didn't you? They're going to be obnoxious all night now."

"I'm not scared! And it's not a 'weird' island. It's just a regular, uninhabited island," Aang said, and at the same time cold fingers trailed his spine, which he attributed to the breeze coming off the water.

"Look, it's just a story I heard," Yuka defended.

"Tell it!" Aang cried, and at the same time Jinju yelped, "Please, don't tell it!"

Aang set his jaw and looked at Yuka confidently. "I want to hear it," he said.

Yuka was silent for a moment as he studied Li's indifferent expression, Aang's bold gaze, and Jinju's trembling lips. "All right." He settled back, and the three other boys unconsciously leaned a little closer to the fire.