Wow, after this we're at the North Pole and then the finale. Crazy to think that we're almost done, right? Anyway, I don't own anything, Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy!
The Northern Air Temple
The gang was sat down on a few benches behind some kneeling children as they all listened to a man in front of a fire. They landed a little while ago for a short break when Aang discovered that the man was talking about airbenders. He dragged the others to listen to his stories.
"So travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look. It might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man! A member of a secret group of air walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!" the storyteller finished. Aang's smile was the widest Celina had seen in a while.
"Aren't airbender stories the best?" Aang said to them.
"Was it realistic? Was that how it was back then?" Katara asked him.
"I laugh at gravity all the time. Haha! Gravity," Aang laughed.
The storyteller came up to them and shoved a hat in Sokka's face. "Jingle, jingle," he said, hoping to get some more coins. Sokka reached into his pocket but only pulled out lint. He shot the man an apologetic look. "Cheapskates!"
"Here," Celina said and pulled out a copper piece from her pocket, much to the storyteller's delight.
"Thank you, Miss," he said and then went to leave. Aang stopped him, however.
"Hey, thanks for the story! It means a lot to hear airbender stories. It must have been a hundred years ago your great grandpa met them," Aang said.
"What are you prattling about, child? Great grand-pappy saw the air walkers last week!" the storyteller told him. They looked over to see the storyteller's great grand-pappy waving at them, very much alive. Aang turned back to his friends and Celina could already see the hope in his eyes.
o
Aang made it his mission to try and find the airbenders that the storyteller told them about. He dragged the Water Tribe siblings onto Appa as soon as dawn broke the next day, much to Sokka's annoyance. Aang was currently in the driver's seat steering Appa in the direction of an Air Temple.
"Hey, we're almost at the Northern Air Temple! This is where they had the championships for the sky bison polo," Aang told them excited.
"Do you think we'll really find airbenders?" Katara asked her siblings.
"You want me to be like you, or totally honest?" Sokka asked back.
"Are you saying I'm a liar?" Katara questioned annoyed.
"I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing basically," Sokka replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"What do you think, Celina?" Katara asked, ignoring Sokka.
"The airbenders were wiped out years ago. I think that man gave Aang false hope," Celina admitted.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Aang called back to them. Everyone looked forward to seeing the Northern Air Temple in front of them sitting on top of a mountainous peak, just like the Southern Temple they visited. Except unlike the Southern Temple, this one had people flying around on gliders. Celina was amazed that there were actually people here but when she noticed Aang's smile turned into a frown she knew that they weren't the airbenders Aang was hoping for.
"Huh! They really are airbenders!" Katara exclaimed,
"No, they're not," Aang said unhappily.
"What do you mean they're not? Those guys are flying?" Sokka questioned.
"Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move. They're not airbending. Those people have no spirit," Aang told them. A kid in a glider soared right over their head, laughing in delight. The biggest thing that stood out to Celina, however, was that he was gliding in a wheelchair.
"I don't know, Aang. That kid seems pretty spirited," Katara pointed out. Seeing his friends impressed by the boy Aang grabbed his gliders and took off, flying around Appa to try and one up the kid. Celina was quick to take control of Appa's reins.
"It's best we land," Celina told her siblings. She landed Appa gracefully on one of the temple's terraces before they looked back to watch Aang and the other boy. The three were joined by some of the Air Temples residents.
"Go, Teo! Show that bald kid how it's done!" one of them shouted, cheering on his friend in the wheelchair.
It looked like it was a game of tag that the two were performing as they soared through the sky. The boy, Teo hit his brakes and ended up behind Aang. They twirled around each other in a dive, neck and neck with each other. Aang suddenly broke his descent and shoot straight upwards. The kids of the temple gasped when they saw him let go of his glider and run alongside one of the temple's tower walls. Aang proceeded to create an air scooter and rode it along the walls, his glider still gliding beside him. He let the scooter die before grabbing hold of his glider and soaring back into the sky.
Teo looked impressed but then went to try and impress Aang. He released a cord on his glider and a cylinder on the back of his glider started to leave a trail of smoke. Manipulating his glider he created loops and arcs of smoke behind him. When he was done it was revealed to be a picture of Aang's face with a sour expression. The crowd of temple residents laughed at this. Sokka and Katara chuckled as well though Celina couldn't help but worry about how this would affect Aang's already sour mood.
The boy in question landed next to his friends and folded his glider back up. Teo landed close to them and a bunch of kids came to detach the glider from his wheelchair. He then wheeled himself over to Aang and the others.
"Hey! You're a real airbender! You must be the Avatar. That's amazing. I... I… I've heard stories about you," Teo geeked out over Aang.
"Thanks," Aang replied a bit embarrassed but happier than before.
"Wow! This glider chair is incredible!" Sokka said impressed.
"If you think this is good wait until you see the other stuff my Dad designed," Teo told them.
He began to wheel away, leading the others around the temple. They moved through the huge main gates of the temple into the main chamber. The room was dominated by a jumble of machinery like wheels and gears and pipes, all powered by steam. There was the statue airbender monk in the chamber, almost hidden away by the machinery.
"Wow!" Sokka smiled seeing everything.
"Yeah, my Dad is the mastermind behind this whole place! Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a life when we're gliding," Teo explained.
Everyone looked over to see a woman walk over to a cage and get in. She pulled a rope and the steam lifted the cage up to a higher level. "Wow, it's all so advanced," Celina commented, impressed by the mechanics as well.
"This place is unbelievable," Aang said.
"Yeah, it's great isn't it?" Teo replied.
"No, just unbelievable," Aang repeated sullenly. He walked away from them and towards a mural; saddened by everything he's seen, leaving Teo confused.
"Aang used to come here a long time ago. I think he's a little shocked it's so… different," Katara tried to explain.
"So better!" Sokka added.
Celina elbowed her brother in his ribs for being so insensitive. Katara walked over to Aang to talk to him. Celina watched as both of them looked at a dirtied mural that had pipes coming out in places. It was clear that underneath the dirt it was supposed to be a history of the airbenders. Aang didn't stay there long before a heading over to a fountain. It had been altered with green industrial looking things that bubbled and spurted. The statue of the fountain suddenly emitted a cloud of black smoke from its mouth, causing Aang to jump back. Celina had to admit that she could see Aang's disgust about that.
"I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same," Katara said.
"Oh yeah, there's this one place," Teo confirmed. He led the gang across a narrow, suspended pathway from the main temple into another building. Once inside they discovered that the main courtyard was untouched with airbender statues here and there.
"It's nice to see even one part of the temple that isn't ruined," Aang smiled.
His smile quickly disappeared when a wrecking ball smashed through a wall and the statue that he and Katara had been looking at. Everyone began to cough because of the dust and debris that filled the air. When the dust settled they looked over to see a bunch of people looking at them through the newly created hole. One of them was a middle-aged man with a bald head and patched of pointy hair on the side of his head. His right eye had a red monocle and he wore a green tunic covered by a white artisan smock.
"What the doodle! Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse," he scolded them.
"Do you know what you did? You destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!" Aang angrily exclaimed.
"Well, people around here are starting to stink," the man replied.
"This whole place stinks!" Aang shouted. Using his staff Aang struck the ground and sent a gale of wind at the wrecking ball and its rig. They were blown off the building's foundation and fell into the crevices below.
"Aang!" Celina scolded. Someone could have gotten hurt by his actions. She knew that he was upset that the Air Temple had been changed, and rightfully so, but that was no excuse for doing something so reckless.
The young airbender ignored her however and still focused on the man in front of them. "This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like," Aang almost growled at him.
"The monks? But you're 12!" the man said confused.
"Dad, he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago," Teo explained.
"What are you doing? Who said you could be here?" Aang asked angrily as he advanced towards Teo's father.
"Hmmm… doing here… A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother. I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home," he explained. Celina saw that he was trying to hold back tears when he mentioned the loss of his wife. "Then I came across these fan like contraptions!"
"Our gliders," Aang clarified, seeing as Teo's dad pointed at people gliding outside.
"Yes, little flying machines. They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak. We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?" Teo's dad continued.
"Nature knows where to stop," Aang bit back.
"I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us," he responded. Celina was conflicted. She saw where Aang was coming from but she also saw where Teo's dad was coming from. They needed someplace to live and in order to do that some changes needed to be made. "Look at the time!"
The gang looked over to where Teo's dad was looking and saw candles burning on top of a stone pedestal, each separated in neat sections.
"Come, the pulley system must be oiled before dark," he said to a scribe behind him. They went to leave but a question from Sokka stopped him.
"Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing? The notches all look the same," Sokka questioned.
"The candle will tell us. Watch," Teo's dad instructed.
The candle flame then snapped four times in a row. "You put spark powder in the candle," Celina observed.
"Four flashes, so it's exactly four hours past midday, or, as I call it, four o'candle!" Teo's dad said. Sokka laughed at his joke and Teo's dad smiled seeing that he was so interested in what he invented. "If you like that, wait till you see my finger safe knife sharpener! Only took me three tries to get it right!" Teo's dad held up his hand to reveal that he had three wooden fingers on his left hand.
Sokka followed after Teo's dad as he left with his scribes. Celina, Katara, and Teo looked over at Aang and saw how upset he was which gave Teo an idea. "Hey, Aang, I want to show you something," he said and began to lead them into the bowels of the Air Temple.
"I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same," Aang said sullenly.
"I don't know about that," Teo said and picked up a hermit crab. "The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones that lived here a long time ago."
"They're kind of keepers of the temple's origins," Katara commented. Teo handed Aang the hermit crab and he couldn't help but smile at it.
"Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all," Teo said and continued to lead them through the temple.
When they finally came to a stop it was at the same intricate locked doors that were back at the Southern Air Temple. Celina couldn't help but shiver remembering all the harsh, judging gazes of the stone statues of Aang's past lives.
"Hey! It's just like the one in the other Air Temple," Katara commented.
"Only an airbender can open it… so the inside is completely untouched, just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it was like in there," Teo told them.
"Aang?" Katara asked, wondering if he was going to open the doors for them.
"I'm sorry, this is the last part of the temple that is how it was. I want it to stay that way," Aang answered.
"Oh, thank the spirits," Celina muttered to herself.
"I completely understand. I just wanted you to know it was here," Teo said.
"Thanks," Aang replied. The four of them turned away and began to walk back to the top of the Temple.
o
When they made it back upstairs Teo managed to get a few gliders for Celina and Katara and was explaining to them how to use them.
"The wind will carry you. It supports something inside you… something even lighter than air, and that something takes over when you fly," Teo told the girls.
"I've changed my mind. I think I was born without that something," Katara said scared, looking over the edge that she and Celina were standing on.
"Impossible! Everyone has it," Teo laughed.
"Spirit," Aang spoke up.
"What?" Teo asked confused.
"That's the something you're talking about," Aang explained.
"Yeah, I suppose it is," Teo smiled.
"Well if that's the case then I should be okay. Right, Spirit Buddy?" Celina said causing Aang to laugh. Celina and Katara got ready to take off with Teo and Aang behind them.
"Are you ready?" Teo asked.
"Yeah!" Celina replied.
"No!" Katara answered. Katara jumped off anyway with Celina. She screamed on her way down but they soon turned to screams of delight once she gained control of the glider. Celina giggled beside her, feeling amazing soaring into the sky. She understood now why Aang likes to use his glider so much. Aang and Teo soon joined them.
"I can't believe I'm flying!" Katara shouted to their friend.
"Just make sure to keep your mouth closed so you don't swallow a bug!" Aang told them.
"Will do," Celina replied before looking over and seeing Momo flying with them, trying to eat as many bugs as he could.
"Teo was right about the air! All I had to do was trust it. Let it carry me," Katara said.
"Even though Teo's not an airbender, he really does have the spirit of one," Aang realized. Celina could see an idea forming in his eyes as he landed on the terrace next to Teo. She joined them, curious as to what Aang was going to tell him. "I've been thinking. If you wanna see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you."
"Great!" Teo exclaimed.
"Great," Celina muttered to herself, thrilled to be going back into a room with statues that would stare daggers at her.
"Wait! How do I land this thing?" Katara exclaimed as she still soaring through the sky. "Aang? Teo? Celina? What if I land… eh! Blech! Bug! Bug! That was a bug!" The three of them laughed hearing that Katara swallowed a bug.
"Maybe I should help her down first," Aang said.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Celina giggled.
o
The four of them found themselves back at the Temple doors once again though this time they were going to be opened.
"I can't believe I'm finally going to see what's inside," Teo said excited.
Aang got into position and airbended two jets of air into the horns at the bottom of the door. The air ran through the intricate tubing, flipping the air symbols and unlocking the door in the process. Celina braced herself when the doors to the sanctuary opened but was surprised when she didn't feel the murderous gazes of Avatar statues. The four of them walked inside and gasped in horror when they discovered the room to be filled with war machines and torture devices.
"Spirits," Celina cursed.
"This is a nightmare," Aang said.
"You don't understand." The four of them turned around to see Teo's dad entering the room.
"You're making weapons for the Fire Nation!" Aang shouted angrily.
Sokka came up from behind Teo's dad when he heard Aang. Upon seeing what was inside the room he became angry with him as well. "You make weapons for the Fire Nation!?"
"Explain all this! Now!" Teo demanded.
"It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this tale. They were going to destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded with them, I begged them to spare us. They asked what I had to offer. I offered… my services," Teo's dad explained, humiliated. "You must understand, I did this for you!"
Teo's response to this was turning his head and wheeling himself out of the room and away from his father who in turn walked down the hall in shame.
"We have to stop this," Celina said after a moment of silence. "We can't let him give the Fire Nation any more weapons. I mean look at these."
"I'll go talk to Teo's dad and try to get him to stop. You guys stay down here and destroy these things," Aang told his friends. Celina, Sokka, and Katara nodded as Aang left the room.
"Let's get to work," Sokka said.
o
Celina, Sokka, and Katara made their way back up. They did their best destroying the weapons and torture devices in the room but had to stop with the war machines. They were only able to make a dent in those. Perhaps if Celina and Katara had more water they could do more damage but they didn't so the Water Tribe siblings decided to head back up the Air Temple. They met up with Aang and Teo on a causeway where the two boys told them about how Aang denied a Fire Nation Emissary the weapons so now the Fire Nation was heading to the Air Temple to burn it down.
"This is bad! Very bad!" Sokka said.
"Aang, what are we going to do? How can we possibly keep them all away?" Katara asked.
"I'll tell ya how. We have something they don't. Air power! We control the sky. That's something the Fire Nation can't do. We can win!" Aang told them.
"I want to help," Teo's dad told them as he walked up to the kids.
"Good, we'll need it," Aang smiled. Everyone went into the Temple and gathered all the residents of the Air Temple in Teo's dad's office to explain what was going on. There the gang found out that most of the people in the Air Temple referred to Teo's dad as the Mechanist. Celina was happy to find this out; finally, she knew what to call him besides Teo's dad.
"We finally got the war balloon working thanks to Sokka," the Mechanist explained. "This boy's a genius!"
"Thank you. You're a genius!" Sokka said, pleased with the compliment. Celina could already see it going to her brother's head.
"Thank you," the Mechanist replied.
"See, the problem with the old war balloon was you could get it airborne, but once you did, it just kept going. You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question became, how do you keep a lid on hot air?" Sokka began to explain.
"Ugh, if only we knew," Katara commented, causing Aang and Teo to laugh.
"A lid is actually the answer," Sokka continued.
"That way you can control if you go up or down. Pretty smart thinking, bro," Celina complimented.
"Thanks," Sokka said and went back to explaining things. "Okay, we've got four kinds of bombs. Smoke, slime, fire and…"
"Stink. Never underestimate the power of stink!" the Mechanist finished.
o
Everyone stood on the lower terrace of the temple, looking out over the edge for the Fire Nation. People were nervous about the approaching fight.
"They're coming!" a little girl shouted out.
"Are we ready?" Teo questioned.
"Yes, but where's Sokka with the war balloon?" Katara asked worried.
"Probably still trying to get it airborne with the Mechanist. It is the first time they're using the thing after all," Celina replied.
"We'll have to start without him," Aang said.
Aang, Teo, and the other residents with gliders flew off in formation towards the Fire Nation soldiers climbing up the mountain. They surprised the soldiers by dropping several bombs on them, sending some Fire Nation soldiers to fall into the crevices below. The girls stood on Appa's saddle as he flew around. Katara went to work handing bombs off to the gliders while Celina used the snow from the mountain to their advantage. She aided Aang in creating an avalanche that engulfed row after row of soldiers. The both of them shared a triumphant smile before getting back to the battle at hand.
Suddenly spikes began to shoot up through the clouds and embed themselves into the rock of the Temple. Appa was flying hard trying to avoid the grappling hooks being thrown all over the place. Celina froze her and Katara's feet to the saddle so that they wouldn't get thrown off in the process. From up out of the clouds Fire Nation tanks emerged, using the grappling hooks to climb up the mountain wall. The gliders dropped bombs on them but they ended up doing nothing. When the tanks got up onto a small plateau they began to blast fire out at the gliders. Aang flew down to try to stop them but was having a difficult time trying to fight them off.
"Those things are unstoppable!" Katara exclaimed.
"I think I know how they work. I remember my Dad tinkering with the counterbalancing system. Something to do with water. Works great huh?" Teo told the Water Tribe girls.
"Water?" Katara repeated, getting an idea.
"Looks like a job for us," Celina smirked.
Celina grabbed hold of a glider and flew her and Katara down towards where Aang was. The both of them got into stance and used the snow from the mountain to freeze the tanks in place before using the water inside them to break the wheels off, making sure that they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Celina, Katara, and Aang took out a couple tanks before a dozen more approached them. Appa landed between them and the tanks and roared, tossing aside several tanks. The three jumped into Appa's saddle and he flew them up to the Temple terrace next to Teo. Once there they surveyed the battlefield below them. There were several tanks down but more were approaching.
"We're out of bombs!" Teo told them.
"Sokka, where's that war balloon?" Celina muttered under her breath.
As she spoke this, the war balloon rose up decked out with the Fire Nation symbol and four huge stacks of materials. Everyone smiled brightly seeing their appearance. They watched as Sokka and the Mechanist dropped the stacks of slime onto the tanks. The slime worked pretty well but the tanks still approached.
"Oh no," Katara gasped.
"Come on, Sokka. Use that big brain of yours and figure something out," Celina urged.
Luckily for them, Sokka did think of something as they watched him and the Mechanist throw the heating system overboard and into a crevasse. There was a moment of silence followed by a series of explosions at the base of the Temple. Black smoke filled the area as everyone covered their face. Once it passed they noticed that the tanks were gone and that the Fire Nation troops were running back down the mountain. Celina, Katara, Aang, and the people of the Air Temple cheered in response. The cheering stopped however when they noticed that the war balloon was going down.
"No! Sokka!" Katara shouted.
Aang sprang into action by unfolding his glider and flying towards the war balloon. Sokka used his boomerang as a grappling hook and hooked it onto Aang's foot as he flew by. Sokka and the Mechanist held on as Aang flew them back to the Temple's terrace. Celina and Katara tackled Sokka in a hug, happy to see that he was alright.
"Nice work there, bro," Celina complimented.
"Thanks," Sokka blushed a bit.
When the hugs were done Aang turned to the Mechanist, Teo, and the other residents of the Air Temple. "You know what? I'm really glad you guys all live here now. It's like the hermit crab," Aang told them and picked up a hermit crab crawling on a stone. "Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home. And now you protect each other."
"That means a lot coming from you," Teo smiled.
"Aang, you were right about air power. As long as we've got the skies we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!" Sokka shouted, causing everyone to cheer.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer.
"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.
