Well, Bleeding Wings thanks for the advice. This chapter will be longer than last one, there will be fewer mistakes, and just to say: Appa was lost and couldn't find anything familiar, so he just found Zuko and Iroh and was so THRILLED to see someone he knew. So there. Read on:
"Appa!" Katara yelled. Aang sighed. They had been yelling for an hour. Appa hadn't shown up.
Sokka was practicing bending. He figured out four very important things: He was not an earth bender, he was not a fire bender, he was not a water bender, and he was not an air bender. For one hopeful moment he had made a rock move, but it had only been Aang blowing air around, looking for Appa by pushing plants aside.
What other nations are there? Sokka thought, grimacing, we were all water benders, so shouldn't I be a bender, too?
He thought back to something Madame Wu had said a long time ago, "You will have lots of trouble, much of it self-inflicted." Maybe he could "trouble" himself into becoming a bender.
Then he remembered something his mother had told him before the fire nation raid, "You are not a bender, and you are not yet a warrior. You should use your imagination to become something you want to be. Pretend to be something. Make up your own nation, have adventures with yourself, yet don't leave your backyard."
He stared at the ground. When Aang and Katara gave up for the night they sat down.
"I'm sure he's just looking for something to eat. Nothing bad, he'll be back in the morning." Katara said. Aang sighed and rolled over. In a couple of minutes, he was fast asleep. Katara joined him. Sokka stayed up, looking into the fire.
Appa was tied to the boats. They were surrounding him, and they had enough weight combined to hold him down. He could roll over, but not fly away.
"Uncle!" Zuko yelled, and Iroh came running.
"What is it Prince Zuko?"
"I saw water."
"We do live on a boat, you know," Iroh said.
"I mean bending water. I'm sure the avatar is out there with that boy and girl..." he said, and a part of his heart fluttered.
"So?"
"So they will see our ships! And that bison! What should we do?"
"Calm down, Zuko, it is all under control..."
Sokka lifted his hands. The Earth trembled, water flew all around him, and air blew out all of the fires on Earth. He was a master, of everything but fire...
And then, in a flash, it was over. He was sitting in a tree, watching fiery rock get carried by wind over a river, each just out of his reach.
It meant something. All of the known elements were out of his reach, he could not use them, could not bend them...
Use your imagination...
He looked around him, looking for something inspiring...
...without leaving your backyard.
He couldn't figure it out. He knew he had to create another nation.
Sokka woke up from his dream and stared into the fire. He wondered how he could make himself become a bender of this new nation.
Was it possible? He didn't know. He tried looking for a way to use what he had.
The fire reached to the sky, and it went back down. It slowly crept towards Aang, waiting to take him.
In a flash, water had spurted from the ground and dashed the water out. Katara was up, her hands moving the drenched steam back into a hole.
"Fire benders," she said, "they're here."
"How did you make that water?"
"There's a sort of tunnel underneath us, with water from the river running in. I saw it when we came. We should get out of here now. Aang!" she said, shaking him, "Wake up!"
Aang sighed, and woke up. "Hmm?"
"Fire benders, let's get out of here."
Sokka sighed as Aang burst up with a bunch of air, and he made an air scooter.
"How do you know?"
"The fire was going crazy. They were using their surroundings to try and take you."
"Aang! Katara! Let's get a move-on!" Sokka growled. The two looked at him.
"What's with you?" Katara asked, and Aang raised his eyebrows.
Suddenly, a great burst of fire surrounded them.
"Katara! Is there any more water?" Aang whispered, frightened.
"Not anymore, not without them noticing. I don't have enough to take them all out without the river."
"What about your gourd? You can make a small bit. Aang, blow the fire out with air. Quickly!" Sokka said in a loud whisper so they could hear. He hoped no one else heard.
Katara nodded. They ran, and she made the water burst in front of her, making a small hole. They ran through.
"Hang on—Momo!" Aang yelled. He ran back, and threw some air over the fire.
Momo was inside, trying to fly out. The fire was closing in.
"MOMO!" Aang yelled, and he grabbed the poor creature. Aang breathed air onto the fire and escaped. They all ran through the forest.
"Alright, now I really wish it were raining!" Sokka yelled, and after a while the skies turned dark.
It drizzled, and Katara made a bubble around them so no fire could harm them. The four (Momo, Aang, Katara, and Sokka) caught rain on their tongues to steady their breathing. Katara refilled her gourd.
Sokka still couldn't figure out what he needed to become a bender. What else could he bend? Dust? No, that would be Earth bending. Metal?
He could try metal. It would be great, learning that. But it was man-made, so no one could really be a natural bender.
Then he remembered: Benders were born, not made. Katara wasn't made to be one. He wouldn't be one either.
Unless, of course, he learned if he had other powers.
Sokka sighed. He wanted to be a bender more than anything. He was the oldest of the group (except maybe Appa, and Aang was one hundred years older, but they didn't count...) and he should have been a powerful bender.
He walked on and thought of other elements. He thought about his dream.
He was alone and the four nations were out of his reach...
So what was in his reach...?
And then he knew. He knew what type of bender he was. He couldn't believe it. He had discovered a new nation, he was a lord now, he was...he was...
He was a bender.
A plant bender!
