"Momo, I... I don't feel so good..."

Aang placed a hand over his grumbling stomach, having missed breakfast that day from all the last-minute packing and the quick air dodgeball moves he'd decided take part in that morning with his friends, before he said goodbye to them. He wasn't sure if his empty stomach was causing the nauseousness to happen... or if it was the large crowd of kids that were mingling outside of the Praying Mantis High School courtyards, waiting for the first gong to sound.

Appa was already soaring out into the distant sky, back to the Southern Air Temple, and the boy turned back to glance over at his friend in the sky, wondering if this adventure must have been a mistake. But the boy held his breath and returned his gaze to the crowd ahead of him, involuntarily clutching the strap of his improvised schoolbag (made from flying bison sheds) with one hand, and continuing to rub his stomach with his other hand.

He couldn't find a single person his age with arrow tattoos in the crowd, and that seemed to assure him just how different this school was going to be, and gulped nervously.

Suddenly, the winged lemur made a chirping sound at Aang's side, propped securely on his left shoulder, and Aang turned his head slightly to look at him. He wasn't sure if the lemur had really understood him then, but the creature looked him square in the eye, scrunched his nose, and managed to nuzzle Aang in the left ear.

The boy couldn't help but laugh from the tickling sensation, and gave Momo a pat on the head.

"Thanks, buddy." It seemed to make him more comfortable about the situation, and those little butterflies in his stomach were slowly disappearing. "Well? Ready for the first day of school?"

Aang stood his ground and clutched his schoolbag one last time, like a conquering hero.

Laughter and chatter gradually enveloped the boy's ears as he walked closer and closer into the crowd of kids. It was like everything from the Gothic stone building of the school, to the trees that established its courtyards, to the large outdoor playing field in the distance (with some strange fork-like polls) was being captured solely by a pair of silver eyes. Aang practically forgot to blink from the fascination of it all.

Ironic really, how despite the boy's extreme nervousness about standing out in the crowd... none of the kids seemed to notice him. Aang looked around the clusters of kids who were sitting, standing, leaning against the trees all chatting, and they all seemed to preoccupied to spot a new kid with his winged lemur on his shoulder.

The boy didn't know whether to be relieved, or concerned about this. There were too many kids to approach... too many kids to talk to! And an Airbender's philosophy was to not make presumptuous judgements on people, regardless of how they looked at you the first time.

Always approach a new face with countless possibilities, and with a clean slate, Monk Gyatso always used to tell the boy. A friend may come in the most unexpected of places.

Aang felt his face flush with nervousness and stress as he looked from one area of the of the courtyard to another. Thanks, Monk Gyatso... he thought... but that's not really helping the situation!

But just as he was recalling another Airbender's philosophy (An airbender does not panic, but re-evaluates)... there was a sudden clashing sound of two swords, coming from the corner of Aang's eye. He looked over and saw that a group of kids were watching him with interest from under the shade of an oak tree, and that the metallic sound had come from a young man's pair of curved swords... a weapon that Aang had never seen before.

The boy raised his eyebrows, noting that the five pairs of eyes from the oak tree had seemed to take an interest in this new kid. Aang remained where he stood, trying really hard not to shake with nervousness as the boy with the twin swords approached him wryly.

Aang'll never forget that keen, mischievous demeanor that came with the boy's dark eyes... it was as if he were studying a new species.

"Uh... mm... HI! I'm Aang!" came all too cheerful greeting from the airbender. Aang felt his cheeks flush as he noticed how he'd managed to smile and extend his hand out to the dark-looking young man almost impulsively.

The stranger raised an eyebrow and didn't say a word, but Aang could hear the other kids from the oak tree start laughing and snickering behind him. Aang's smile was slowly deteriorating, but the young man threw a look over at his friends in annoyance. In an instant, the snickering faded away, but Aang wasn't sure how to take that.

"You new here, or something?" Came the slightly harsh voice, as he turned back to deal with Aang. The young man seemed to ignore that extended hand that the boy was nervously holding out, and just stared at him intriguingly.

Quickly, Aang exchanged looks with Momo at his shoulder, who didn't really seem to care less.

"Um... yeah. I'm--" The boy was about to say his name for the second time, but stopped himself in the nick of time. " I'm from the Southern Air Temple."

"Really?" That voice had an edge of sarcasm, but as much as it was tempting, Aang refused to make rash judgements after only those few seconds of dialogue. "Well that's a place we don't hear about much."

"Oh... well it's a great place," Aang massaged the back of his neck, trying to hold the conversation positively, "I've been living there since I was a baby... and the monks teach us how to master airbending... and we drink organic rice milk for breakfast..."

Aang mentally slapped himself in the face. Rice milk? My first impression as a new kid, and all I can talk about is RICE MILK?

"Hmm..." The young man arched an eyebrow at the boy's statement, but rather than turning away with a cold shoulder as Aang had predicted... he made an edgy grin and placed a rough hand on the boy's right shoulder. The hand came down so suddenly, Momo nearly jumped and squeaked from the left one. "Well, let me be the first to introduce you to Praying Mantis High."

Aang widened his eyes, flabbergasted.

"I'm Jet," the young man pointed a hitchhiker's thumb to himself, then gestured back to acknowledge the other kids under the oak tree. "And this is my crew. Come on, I'll introduce you."

Jet's hand was still clamped on the boy's shoulder, and it seemed to pull him forward, to follow along with what he was saying.

"Um... sure, okay..." Aang smiled hesitantly, trying to keep himself in that positive mood to avoid the frightening thoughts in his mind.

As he looked at the other kids, shaded from the oak tree, they didn't at all seem to be the friendliest of faces, but Jet brought the new kid reluctantly into the shade.

"That's Pipsqueak... Longshot... the Duke – my little brother - too young for this place, but he still hangs out with us before school... and that's Smellerbee."

Jet pointed at each of the kids respectively, but none of the kids smiled, waved, or even seemed to breathe as they were being introduced to this kid. The Duke eyes were intriguingly entertained by the winged lemur propped on Aang's shoulder loyally, but everyone else's faces were expressionless, and their eyes were so dangerously narrow that Aang thought he was being forced into a staring contest.

After a brief pause, the girl named Smellerbee made the first remark.

"There's a giant arrow on your forehead," she said flatly.

Aang blinked, but before he could say anything in response, the giant gong bellowed from the school tower, and all the kids' heads turned to the Gothic building.

In a matter of seconds, all the kids in the courtyard seemed to stop their chatter and gather their things, erupting into a slow stampede of scurrying feet into the school's entrance.

The boy remained under the oak tree, still taking in that loud noise he had never had to respond to before. Jet was picking up his brown schoolbag and pushed Aang playfully to move forward.

"Listen...Aang, right? The first gong means that classes are starting, and if you hear the gong the second time, you're late for your first class... got it?"

"Uh... uh huh." Aang replied, taking note of that mentally in his mind. "But... I don't know what my first class is!"

"No sweat," Jet was speed-walking to the school entrance among the crowd of kids, and Aang followed a few steps behind. "All you have to do is go to the main office and talk to the vice principal. Don't worry, he's a great guy... trust me, I know him too well."

"Wait!" Aang tried to shout back to Jet, as he was being lost among the many faces of kids near the large wooden entrance doors. Momo was too overwhelmed by the movement of kids, he nervously climbed onto Aang's head and held on tightly.

"Who's the vice principal?!" Aang asked, trying to shoo Momo's arms out from blocking his vision. Jet turned back from a distance to respond to the boy.

"His name is Zhao. Vice Principal Zhao!"

And at that, Jet's voice faded from inside the school, leave Aang behind to fend for himself with the many other kids that were sandwiching him, pushing him into the Praying Mantis highschool.

The loud voices of kids, the pushing and shoving to get into the classrooms, and Momo clinging onto dear life from atop of Aang's head was enough to make the boy realize that school was about to be in session... whether he was ready for it or not.