Chapter 25
"So, travelers. The next time you think you hear a strange, large bird talking, take a closer look." The storyteller stated as looked around at his audience with slight smile on his face, "It might not be a giant parrot but a talking man but a member of a secret group of air walkers, who laugh at gravity, and laugh at those bound to earth by it!"
Liling continued to listened to the man until he was done, She turned to look at Aang who was also smiling while the man held out his hat a signal for them to put in money for his story.
"Aren't Airbender stories the greatest?" Aang asked, looking at the two Water Tribe siblings with a smile on his face.
"Was it realistic?" Katara questioned eagerly, looking at Aang, "Is that how was it was back then?"
"I laugh at gravity all the time." Aang replied then chuckled and shook his head, "Gravity."
Liling giggled in amusement.
The storyteller stopped in front of Sokka and shook his coin-filled hat at him, "Jingle, jingle!"
Sokka searched inside his parka and his pockets only to pull out bugs, a few breadcrumbs.
"Sorry…" Sokka apologized weakly and man groaned in annoyance.
"Cheapskates!" the man mumbled as he walked away.
Aang stood and ran after the storyteller, Liling only a few steps behind him.
"Hey!" Aang said as he stopped behind the storyteller who was kneeling in front of the old man, "Thanks for the story."
"Tell it to the cap, boy." The man replied, shaking his hat behind him as he continued to face the old man.
Liling and Aang both began searching their clothes for some money when Momo leapt from Aang's shoulder and picked up a coin that had fallen out of the cap. The lemur put the coin back in the hat as the storyteller turned around.
"Aww, much obliged little bat-thing." The storyteller said with a smile as he petted Momo's head.
"It means a lot to hear Airbender stories." Aang said gratefully. " It must have been a hundred years ago your great grandpa met them."
"What are you prattling about, child?" The man demanded then pointed to the old man sitting behind him, "Great Grandpappy saw the air walkers last week."
The old man coughed and grinned, waving his hand at Aang and Liling. The two look at the storyteller in disbelief before running back over to where their friends were waiting.
"Hey, we're almost to the Northern Air Temple." Aang said excitedly as he steered Appa through the clouds." That's where they had the championships for Sky Bison polo."
"I remember, you took me there once." Liling commented as she looked ahead seeing the temple.
Katara smiled at Aang then moved back to sit beside Sokka at the back of the saddle.
"Do you think we'll really find Airbenders?" She asked Sokka as he whittled a piece of wood.
"You want me to be like you, or totally honest?" He asked
"Are you saying I'm a liar?" Katara demanded angrily as she crossed her arms.
"I'm saying you're an optimistic." Sokka said then shrugged. "Samething, basically."
"Hey, guys look at this!" Aang called out excitedly.
Liling stared at where a few black specks were flying around the Northern Air Temples.
"They really are Airbenders!" Katara said in amazement as she looked at the people flying around the temple on gliders.
Aang looked at the figures flying around the temple then his expression fell. Aang scowled and leaned back, his arms crossed over his chest.
"No, they're not." Aang said
"What do you mean 'they're not?'" Sokka said in confusion as he waved his hands. "They're flying."
Aang shook his head. "They're gliding for sure, but they are definitely not flying. They're not Airbending. You can tell by the way they move." Aang scowled at the scene as Appa flew closer. "Those people have no spirit."
Then a boy in chair with a glider attached to it flew right above them, causing Katara, Sokka, and Liling to yelp and duck their heads. The boy's laughter could be heard as they watched him fly through the clouds.
"I don't know." Katara replied as watching the boy flying."That kid seems pretty spirited."
The boy flew away, shooting a look over his shoulder as he did so with a grin, Aang frowned for a moment it changed to a mischievous grin, he gave Liling the reigns taking his staff and snap the gliders open.
Katara, Liling and Sokka watched Aang go after the boy before their attention was pulled to a couple other kids on gliders surrounding them as Appa flew closer to the temple. Appa gave a roar when one of the gliders nearly hit him the face and tossed his head back, knocking Liling, Katara and Sokka.
"Ow!" Katara said
"We better find some solid ground, before it finds us." Sokka said.
"I got this." Liling said once again taking the reins moving them closer to the temple lamdong safely.
Minutes later, the kids that were gliding landed, cheering as they watched the Aang and the boy.
"Go Theo!" the kids cheered, "Show that bald kid how it's done!"
Liling watches along with the other kids as the boy and Aang began doing loop-de-loops as they flew around the temple then began a downward spiral around each other.
Theo flicked a switch, causing smoke to come out underneath his chair. Theo flew through the sky with the smoke trailing behind him for a few minutes to reveal that he had drawn picture of Aang's frowning face.
Liling laughed, while the kids around her cheered and laughed happily.
Theo grinned at Aang, "What do you think?"
"It's great." Aang muttered then glided down to be with his friends.
The boy landed a putting on his chair's brakes, skidding a few feet before coming to a complete stop. They watched as some of the kids lift the glider off of the Theo's chair.
Theo looked at Aang for a moment then his eyes widened and he grinned. "Hey, you're a real Airbender!"
"You must be the Avatar!" Theo continued in excitement as he looked at Aang, "That's amazing! I-I've heard stories about you!"
Aang rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks."
"Wow! This glider chair is incredible!" Sokka complimented.
"You think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my dad designed." Theo said as he began wheeling himself into the temple with his friends following after him.
"This is...wow.…" Liling muttered as she looked around spacious room that was filled with metal pipes and machinery.
Aang looked around the room his frowned as he saw the pipes and machines blasting smoke and steam.
"Wow!" Sokka squealed excitedly as he ran up to one of the machines.
"Yeah, my dad is the mastermind behind this whole place. Everything's powered by hot air." Theo explained and gestured towards a woman as she used an elevator getting them up. "It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift while we're gliding."
"This place is unbelievable." Aang muttered seeing the changes.
"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" Theo replied with a delighted grin.
"No." Aang stated as he walked away from Theo,Liling and Katara, "Just unbelievable."
"Aang…"Liling said
"Aang used to come here a long time ago." Katara explained quietly when she saw Theo's surprised and slightly hurt expression, "I think he's a little shock it's so…different."
"So better!" Sokka quipped happily looking at the machines.
"Sokka, you're not helping!" Liling exclaimed. She ran after the young Avatar.
Aang stared up at a mural of the Air Nomads that had pipes going through it, destroying the walls.
"This is supposed to be the history of my people." Aang said sadly as the two females were behind him.
"Now look at it…" Aang continues dismayed as he stared at a pipe that was going through the painting of a monk's head.
"Aang.. " Liling said softly.
Katara gave Aang a sad look and reached out to put her hand on his shoulders but he moved away, walking over to the fountain with a sky bison statue on it that was in the middle of the room.
Liling looked into the fountain and saw the filthy green water. Aang gave his reflection in the dirty green water a squeamish look before recoiling violently when statue suddenly spat black smoke from its mouth.
"Ugh!" Aang exclaimed in disgust, taking a step away from the statue. "This is so wrong."
"I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same." Katara said
"It's nice to see that at least one part of the temple isn't ruined." Aang commented as he looked around large room that almost exactly like it had a hundred years ago.
"That's good...i'm glad." Liling chimed in before walking over to where Aang and Katara were standing in front of a statue of a long-bearded Airbending master.
"Look out!" Someone shouted suddenly and a second later the statue Aang, Katara, and Liling were standing in front of was destroyed by a wrecking ball, throwing up a cloud of dirt and dust.
"What the heck?!" Liling exclaimed waving her hand trying to clear up the cloud dust.
"What the doodle?" A man with crazy spiked up hair, half grown eyebrows, and wearing an apron as he looked at the five teens, "Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse!"
"Do you know what you just did?!" Liling screamed angrily at the man. "I cant believe you?!"
"You just destroyed something sacred!" Aang shouted just as angrily, his knuckles turning white as his gripping his glider very tightly, "For a stupid bathhouse!"
"Well, people around here are starting to stink." The man said obliviously as he waved a hand in front of his face.
"This whole place stinks!" Aang yelled as he pointed at the man then turned to look at the crane.
Aang growled angrily as he slammed his staff lengthwise against the ground, sending a blast of air at the crane and knocking it clear off the mountain.
"This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way!" Aang continued to shout as he walked closer to the man and pointed at him aggressively, "I've seen it when the monks were here! I know what it's supposed to be like!"
"The monks? But," The man paused and scratched his beard in thought, "You're twelve.."
'Aang...i know he's angry but maybe they have a reason to be here…' Liling thought a bit more rationally in this situation.
"Dad, he's the Avatar." Theo said to the man as he rolled up beside him, "He and the girl over there used to come here a hundred years ago."
Aang took a step closer to the man, with Liling right behind him as they glowered at the man as he took a step away from the furious Avatar.
"What are you doing here?" Aang demanded then gestured with one hand, "Who said you could be here?"
"Hmm… Doing here…" The man muttered to himself as he turned away from Aang.
"A long time ago," He said, glancing at them and pointing his finger in the air for a moment then he walked over to Theo and stood behind his chair, "But not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Theo, was badly hurt and lost his mother."
Liling expression softened slightly and she let her arms fall loosely to her sides as the mechanist continued to talk explaining everything of how they came here. 'I thought so...since its abandon they needed a place to live. '
"I need somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere! Pictures of flying people! But empty, nobody home. Then," The man spread his arms out and began walking quickly towards Aang, "I came across these fan-like contraptions."
"The gliders." Aang said
"Yes! Little, light flying machines!" He said as he began waving his hands up and down then walked back towards the giant hole, "They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone will be on equal ground! So to speak… We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here."
Katara sniffled and used Aang's orange shawl to wipe her tears away while Sokka rubbed at his eyes in attempt to keep his own tears at bay. Liling blinked a few times trying to hold back her own tears after listening to his story she couldn't stay mad at him for trying to rebuild a new life with his son and his people.
"And, after all, isn't that what nature does?" The mechanist asked quietly, glancing over his shoulder at Aang.
"Nature knows when to stop." Aang replied, his voice calmer as his anger began to fade.
"I suppose that's true." He said with a nod as he turned to face the five teens,"Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us."before his attention was grabbed by three lit candles sitting on a low table.
"Look at the time!" He gasped as he pointed at the candles then turned to the workers standing behind him, "Come! The pulley system must be oiled before dark."
"Wait," Sokka said as he walked closer to the three candles and looked them over skeptically, "How can you tell the time? The notches all look the same."
"The candle will tell us. Watch." The man explained as he and Sokka looked at the candle which popped four times a moment later.
"You put spark powder in the candle!" Sokka exclaimed, clearly impressed and delighted as he looked up at the man.
"Four flashes. So it's exactly four hours past mid-day. Or, as I call it—four o'candle." He gave a cheesy grin and Sokka laughed in amusement.
"If you like that, wait till you see my finger-safe knife sharpener. Only took me three tries to get it right." He continued, pulling off three of the wooden fingers from his left hand and tossed them into Sokka's hand as he walked past.
"Aaah!" Sokka squealed slightly as he looked at the wooden fingers in his hand with wide eyes until the man returned and poked him in the back.
"Follow me!" the man urged and walked away again with Sokka hurrying after him.
Liling watched Sokka and Theo's father leave along with Aang, Katara, and Theo then the young wheelchair bound boy turned to look at Aang with a smile on his face.
"Hey, Aang." He said, "I want to show you something."
Aang and Liling shared an interested look then followed after Theo along with Katara as he began wheeling out of the room towards another part of the Northern Air Temple.
"I just can't get over it." Aang said as they walked through a dark hallway with Theo at the front, "There's not a single thing that's the same."
"I don't know about that." Theo replied as he stopped and picked up one of the hermit crabs, holding it in his hand, "The temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones who lived here a long time ago."
Theo handed the hermit crab to Katara who smiled and cupped the little creature in her hands, watching as it walked sideways across her palms.
"You're right." Katara agreed as she gently poked the hermit crab's shell, "They're kind of keepers of the temple's origins."
Katara handed the crab to Aang who smiled as it began moving around his hand.
"These little guys are kinda cute." Liling said smiling at the small hermit crab in Aang's hands.
"Besides,"Theo said as he started wheeling forward again, "There's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all."
The three friends looked at Theo's back curiously then Aang gently placed the hermit crabs in hand back on the ground before following after Theo with Katara and Liling beside him.
The foursome stopped in front of a large door with a Airbending symbol in the front.
"Hey, it's just like the one in the other temple!" Katara pointed out with a smile as she looked up at the door.
Theo turned his chair slightly so he was facing Aang, "Only an Airbender can open it. So inside is completely untouched, just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it's like in there…"
Katara and Liling looked at Aang. Liling walked closely to the young Airbender placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Aang?" Liling said
Aang looked at the door shaking his head. "I cant...i'm sorry this is the last room that the monks have it intact..i prefer it that way, i'm sorry." He said in his voice sounding very sincere.
"I completely understand." Theo said sincerely, looking only a little disappointed but a grin soon appeared on his face as he looked at the Airbender standing in front of him, "I just wanted you to know that it's here."
"Thanks, Theo." Aang said, smiling at the boy briefly.
Hi, guys so sorry for the wait got very busy with stuff, i'll try to post the next chapter soon. Please leave review and any suggestions Pm me!