Chapter 14
Missing, but not forgotten (Part 2 of 4)
Written by TheHiddenWriter
Based off ATLA, created by Nick and Viacom
For my fans, you guys really like my writing! Thanks guys!
Sokka walked down the hall. He was looking around for Shen, wondering where he was. He ran into Toph as he was walking.
"Hey Toph, have you seen Shen anywhere?" Asked Sokka.
"Nope. That guy has been missing for a few hours." Said Toph.
"Hmm, I wonder where he is?" Said Sokka.
"Hey Sokka, what are you going to do about Yue and Suki?" Asked Toph.
"What about them?" Asked Sokka.
"Well, have you noticed that they kind of… aren't the best of friends?" Said Toph.
"What? Are you kidding? They're best friends." Said Sokka.
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM, MOON FREAK!" Suki yelled from her room.
Toph gave Sokka the "Oh really?" after this was heard.
"Oh come on, you girls always meaning something different than what you say." Said Sokka.
Toph rolled her eyes. "And I thought I was the blind one."
Toph sighed and mumbled under her breath, "After all, you didn't even notice the signs that I had a crush on you…"
"What was that Toph?" Asked Sokka.
"Nothing!" Said Toph in embarrassment.
"Ok then… I'm going to go find Shen."
And with that, Sokka walked off, leaving Toph embarrassed and blushing. Sokka kept walking across the temple, and came near Zuko's room. He figured that Zuko might be able to help him out. He knocked on the door.
"Go away Haru. I'm not helping the Duke get a date a with…"
"It's me, Sokka."
There were one or two whispers in Zuko's room for a moment. Then Zuko spoke again.
"Is Haru, Teo, or the Duke with you?"
"No."
Zuko opened the door.
"What do you need? I'm kind of busy… with Mai."
Sokka looked over Zuko's shoulder to see Mai sitting on a chair in Zuko's room. They seemed to have been making out.
"That's ok, I'll just go find someone else to help me out…"
"Sokka, you just interrupted me, what do you want?"
"Where's Shen?"
"How would I know?"
"He's been gone for a few hours."
"Yeah, trying to figure out how to get us to his lands."
"And that takes a few hours?"
Zuko sighed and looked back at Mai.
"We'll continue later." Said Zuko.
Mai sighed. "For once something good happens in my life. No peppy Ty-lee or crazy Azula. Now I have to go outside and listen to Ms. Moon and the dress-up warrior argue."
Mai got up out of the room. Sokka was curious as to what she meant by the comment.
"You're kidding me. You haven't figured it out yet?" Said Zuko.
"Figured out what?" Asked Sokka.
"Ugh, you and your sister and clueless when it comes to… Forget it. Let's go find Shen."
The two guys walked down the hall, looking for Shen.
They searched around the temple, until they found the room of the elder monks; the room where Aang first found out he was the avatar. They found Shen touching the back wall, and were curious as to why he was doing that.
"Shen?" Asked Sokka.
Shen was caught of guard and lost his balance for moment. He then regained it and turned around.
"Please, don't sneak up on me like that!" Said Shen.
Zuko and Sokka walked up to Shen.
"Why are you in here?" Asked Zuko.
Shen sighed. "Before I started following Aang, I spent a lot of time here, observing the other airbenders."
"Wow, how long exactly have you been following Aang?" Asked Sokka.
"Well, I actually ended up being frozen in the iceberg with Aang and Appa, so I'd say… hmm… a month before Aang ran away from the air temple." Said Shen.
"Wow." Said Sokka.
"You see, I think the elder monks hid the passage near by here. But the only hidden area I know here is the secret room behind this wall." Said Shen.
"Pfft… secret passages…" Said Sokka.
Shen found the small marking in the wall with the air symbol on it, and touched it. Suddenly, the wall next to the marking opened up, revealing a large passage. Shen walked into the passage, as Sokka just stood there, dumbfounded. Zuko rolled his eyes.
"Come on, Sokka." Zuko said as he walked into the passage.
Sokka walked down the passage, following Zuko and Shen. At last, they reached the room, which was small and had one tiny window.
"You think this is where the passage is?" Asked Sokka.
"No, I doubt Yuan knew about this place. He must have found another route to the passage. But I think there is something in this room that might hint on how to find the route inside the air temple. Look around." Said Shen.
The trio looked around the room for any signs of how to get to the route. After a few minutes of searching, Zuko spotted something.
"I found another marking in the wall!"
Shen and Sokka walked over to where Sokka was. Zuko pressed the marking, and suddenly, a near by rumbling was heard. The rumbling continued for a few minutes, and then it stopped.
"What was that?" Asked Sokka.
The trio ran down the passage, and found inside the passage, that a large wall opened up. A new passage was revealed, which lead into a large, dark, wet cave.
"Gentlemen, I think we found route 2." Said Shen.
"Should we starting getting everyone over here?" Asked Zuko.
"No, everyone needs to get some sleep first. Then we can get Appa up here and travel down the route to the passage to my land." Said Shen.
"And how are we going to get Appa…"
Shen interrupted Sokka. "I'll figure it out, just go get some rest."
Zuko and Sokka nodded and walked back towards their rooms. Shen sighed and started walking towards Appa.
"Hopefully I still know that secret language the monks taught me. Otherwise, I have no shot at convincing Appa to go into the cave."
Back at the North Pole, a bunch of waterbenders surrounded Ozai. Pakku lead them, and stared at Ozai.
"Well, Well, Well. You're here. Too bad you don't have your firebending to protect you." Said Pakku.
Ozai smirked. "Nope, I have sometime much better."
He raised his hands and used airbending from his gloves, knocking a few waterbenders down. Pakku was shocked.
"Men! Attack!" Ordered Pakku.
They began waterbending at Ozai, who blocked the attacks with waterbending, using the gloves. However, some water dripped on the gloves, causing it to spark slightly. Ozai growled.
"They failed to mention that these gloves were weak to water…"
Pakku and his men kept shooting waves of water at him, and Ozai blocked it. After a few minutes of battling, Ozai shouted.
"Where is the peasant known as Katara?"
Pakku was furious.
"Don't you dare talk about my granddaughter that way!"
Ozai smirked.
"So she is here…"
Pakku laughed.
"You fool. She's safe with the avatar, far away from these lands. I doubt you'll find her, because according to what she told me before she left, she'll be gone for a long time. You're wasting your time, and we know your weakness. You're outnumbered. Surrender."
Ozai growled.
"Outnumbered, eh? Then I better find some help."
He used his metal shoes and firebended out of them. He used them to fly up in the air, and then used airbending to fly away from the South Pole. Pakku laughed victoriously.
"He'll never learn."
Ozai landed on a near by island and sighed. He then noticed a small note attached to his metal shoes. He read it:
Ozai,
Since I figured it would take you forever to realize Katara wasn't there, I put this note on, telling you where she is. She is attempting to come to my lands, through a passage that only few people can go through. Thankfully, one of my men figured out something a few days ago, which may allow you to come to my land…
Ozai read the note and sighed.
"Well, if I'm going to kill Katara, and get past her little army, I'm going to need a crew to help me… and I know just who to get…"
The next day, the gang began to walk through the route in the air temple. They were walking for a little while, looking around for any sign of the passage to Shen's homeland.
"I can't believe the air monks hid this from everyone for so long…" Said Aang.
"I never thought passages like this would exist. They almost remind me of the cave of two lovers…" Said Katara.
Katara and Aang thought back to when they were in the cave, and then blushed. They swore they'd never say what happened when they were alone in that cave. It would ruin the magic of that day.
"I still can't believe you got Appa to come into these caves. How did you get him to do that?" Asked Toph.
Shen chuckled. "Let's just say I have a way with words…"
Appa grunted and bumped into Shen.
"Hey, you promised not to do that." Said Shen.
Appa grunted again.
"So, how long do you think it will take to get to the passage?" Asked Haru.
They reached a small boulder blocking their way. Toph earthbended it out of the way, reveling a giant room with lots of pillars and a map.
"Right now." Said Shen.
In the prison, far off in the Shadow Nation, Kya was resting. She hated the prison she was in. She hated the chains that held her. But most of all, she hated that they told her Shen was dead. Something inside her heart told her he was still alive. She looked at the small blue flower she had. Back in her hometown, there was a tradition with proposals. The guy would go outside the town to a small patch of flowers. These flowers were equivalent to the necklaces the water tribe used. The girl would wear it with her at all times before they were married, and rumor has it that the flower would keep on living as long as the two fiancées love remained. When the couple was married, the flower would be changed for a ring, which the guy would make out of a special stone found outside of the town. Shen and Kya never got the chance to be married, and the flower lived on for two long years without water. That's why Kya knew something was not right when she was told Shen was dead.
Suddenly, she heard the door to her prison open. An old guard walked into it slowly. She looked at him, angry and tired.
"What do you want?"
The man sat down next to her.
"I'm here to help you, miss."
"Yeah right. Your guards are all the same. Liars and thieves. I'm not telling you anything. Go away."
"Miss, I was forced into the army. I never wanted to be a solider. I was once living in the original town of the Comet Nation."
Kya looked at the old man. He had mentioned her home, the one she hadn't seen in two long years, the one that was burnt to the ground.
"Do you recognize the name Kya?" She asked.
"Yes, I believe she and a young man named Shen were best friends. Before I left the town for a year, I heard that they were about to date each other…"
She knew he was telling the truth.
"I'm Kya sir."
The old man looked at her in amazement.
"Thank god your alive." He said.
"Sir, I must know, is Shen alive?" Asked Kya.
"Rumor has it, Yuan is chasing after someone who he believes might stop his plans to rule us all. I can try to find out if it is him." Said the old man.
"Please sir. I beg you to do that."
He smiled and bowed. He then walked towards the door.
"Another guard and I are trying to get a few guards to form a rebellion. If we get enough people, perhaps I can free you and you could come with us."
"I have nothing else to lose. But I'd like to know first if Shen is alive."
"I'll see what I can do." Said the old man, and he left right away on his mission…
TO BE CONTINUED
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I head back to my home in about 3 days, so I'll be able to work on chapters more often then. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and getting alerts on my stories. I'm happy to have fans as good as you guys. Chapter 15 is coming!