This is yet another Avatar Spirit drabble contest entry. I didn't win, and there were no other rankings. Paraphrased, the theme this time was "Missing Moments"- the drabble had to be based on some off-screen event that could have occurred during the series proper, and hopefully the entry would shed new light on things or people, amuse in a comedic manner, and keep things plausible.
Raiders of the Last Temple of Lemurs
"I guess none of the others are coming along."
Haru sighed at that. "So Katara won't be exploring the secret rooms with us."
Teo gave the Earthbender a weary look. "If you want to be that specific about it, yes." He pushed his chair further down the dusty passage. "Of course, it may not be an issue, if we don't find any secret rooms. We kind of had a whole team of people to help find them when we first settled in my home Temple. The Northern one."
"Yeah, but you didn't have any Earthbenders," Haru remarked sullenly. "I bet I could find some secret rooms, no problem. My dad taught me lots of neat Earthbending tricks, during our campaign to free my region from the Fire Nation." The memory cheered him up. "Those were some glorious days, all the campaigns we waged, all the battles we fought. One lasted for 3 days, almost non-stop. It was just a handful of us, crowded in a ditch, holding off waves of Firebenders. All of us became heroes, that time. The people we freed composed songs about us." His smiled drooped back into a frown. "Too bad my dad's back in prison."
Teo didn't want to deal with a depressed Haru again. "I bet Katara would be really impressed by that story," he lied. "You should tell her when we finish up here."
Haru's frown disappeared, and his back straightened noticeably. "That's a good idea, Teo. No wonder everyone says you're a smart guy."
The Duke was less than impressed. "I thought we were gonna find some secret rooms. You guys are boring."
Haru shot the kid a dirty look, and swung a fist in the direction of a nearby wall. The stone barrier crumbled, revealing another, darker passageway. "There's your secret room, brat."
The Duke gave a little cheer (because that's what dumb adults expected a happy kid to do), and ran down the secret path.
Haru followed, and Teo turned his chair to do likewise. "My dad's the really smart one, you know."
"Yeah, didn't he build most of those tanks and things we used in the invasion?"
"Yup. Well, he didn't build them all; he designed them and oversaw the construction, but engineers and mechanics did the actual building."
Haru waved a hand. "Details. Your dad did the hard part. You should be proud of him. Especially for those submarine things!"
"I am proud," Teo said with a smile. "Although he didn't design the submarines. Sokka did that."
Haru stopped cold. "Sokka?"
"Yeah."
"Katara's older brother?"
"Yeah."
"The stupid guy with the boomerang?"
"Stupid?" Teo's eyebrows shot up. "He's one of the smartest people I ever met. He and my dad are mechanical geniuses, and he seemed pretty on the ball when he took command during the invasion. Solid grasp of tactics, and his familiarity with our tanks let him make better use of them than his dad did. The guy's going places in this world, trust me."
Haru's own eyebrows did a little dance upon hearing that news. "Huh. I guess you're right. He just... well, I guess I didn't see him at his best. Katara always struck me as the one running that show."
Unseen by his companions, as he was the one leading them onward, The Duke rolled his eyes. "Again with Katara," he mumbled.
The trio continued onward in silence, having run out of things to say to each other. To be fair, they had only known each other for a short time, and had been abandoned by their mutual acquaintances for what were presumably more important matters. Eventually, the three boys reached the end of the secret passage. It lead into a much larger path, a massive ramp running perpendicular to the secret hallway, that continued on in both directions as far as could be seen. This deep into the temple, there were no windows, and the ventilation shafts allowed sunlight only a token presence.
"Which way?" Haru wondered.
"Down," Teo decided with a smirk. He gave his wheelchair a strong push that also spun him to face in the proper direction, and let gravity carry him on the path to exploration. His happy cry echoed as he disappeared into shadow.
Haru and The Duke glanced at each other. "I guess we should follow him," the Earthbender ventured.
"No one gets left behind," The Duke answered, and took off in a run down the ramp.
Haru, not wanting to be upstaged by a toddler when he told Katara all about this later, called up a surf-slab with an outward swing of his arms, and pushed off down the ramp. As she slid past The Duke, Haru noticed faded paint on the walls, but random scorch marks obscured whatever visual the mural was supposed to convey. Then the darkness settled over him. The sound of The Duke's footsteps faded into the distance behind Haru, but he still couldn't hear the Teo's rollerchair. The Earthbender pumped his arms faster, increasing his speed. He hoped he didn't hit anything.
When the sound of a crash came, it took Haru a second to realize it wasn't happening to him. He immediately slowed down, and so merely bumped into the wall at the bottom of the ramp without pain. "Teo?"
"I'm okay. I just hit my head. But not badly."
"Where are you?"
"There's a door to your left."
"How can you see?"
"Shut your eyes so that they adjust. There's still a little light coming down here."
Haru did as told, counting to thirty, and then opened his eyes again. Sure enough, there was an airshaft above, but it was so long only a trace of sunlight managed to cover the distance. He found the door and began moving cautiously towards it. The floor was covered in soft debris of some kind. "I'm coming. Bet you wished you noticed this before you crashed."
"I did, but the breaks on my chair failed. That's what I get for not checking them out after the invasion."
"Well, we were distracted." Haru reached the doorway, and stepped through.
Teo was in a heap at the base of a massive statue, his chair toppled beside him. Peering past his friend, Haru saw that the chamber they were in was pretty big, its ceiling reaching up beyond the range of his vision in the scarce lighting. Other statues were placed in what seemed like a random order through out the room, and all along the walls. Haru approached Teo, staring at closest stone figure. It was covered in something. Dust? "What's this stuff all over the statues? Ugh, and the floor?"
Teo made a face. "I think it's... guano."
"...oh. I'm almost afraid to ask, but, from what?"
At that moment, The Duke chose to announce his arrival with a shout that echoed into the concealing shadows. "There you guys are! Wow! You found an awesome room!"
There was a delay of but a moment, and then the answering chatters fluttered down to the three boys. Closing following came a swarm of little fuzzy creatures on leathery wings. Moving so rapidly, in so little light, none of the three boys could immediately figure out what they were. Wolfbats? Giant bugs? Ratdragons? Haru gave a high-pitched cry of terror and swatted inefficiently with his hands. The Duke swung his staff around like a club, actually knocking some of the creatures from the air, but there was so little strength in the blows that they weren't even stunned, and quickly took off again. Teo just put his goggles down over his eyes and calmly covered his head with his hands.
Eventually, the creatures seemed to come to the conclusion that the trio of boys was no threat, and they sailed through the doorway and up the ramp. It took Haru a moment to realize that there was nothing left to panic over, but a quick conk from The Duke's staff brought him back to his senses. "What were those things?"
The Duke straightened his helmet. "They looked like that Monkeybat. You know, Aang's. Momo."
"Flying Lemurs!" Teo grinned. "I thought they were mostly extinct! Aang will be thrilled to hear about this!"
Haru considered that. "Can I tell everyone? I want Katara to hear it from me, if that's all right."
The Duke and Teo sighed.
Later at dinner, Haru tried to tell Katara all about his day, but she interrupted him only two words in with some griping about someone named Zuko, which somehow transitioned into a full blown rant about the group's other Earthbender, Toph. He gave up and ate in silence. It wouldn't be until after the war that Teo would find an appropriate time to tell the Avatar about the last living remnants of his Nomadic culture.
END
