_Tara_
When I awoke the next day, I hopped off of Appa and fell the short distance to the ground. We'd intended to set up camp in the clearing, but because of the snow on the ground we'd decided it would be warmer to all curl up on Appa for the night.
Appa's a strong creature, but even he couldn't carry us all for long, so we'd flown a short distance from where Sokka and the others had been and landed in a clearing closer to the shore. Today we were going to split up, half of us trekking through the forest, the other half riding Appa to the shore. After that, we were going to have to find a way north to the Earth Kingdom mainland, because for about the tenth time, the boat we had been using had been destroyed. Most likely that would mean half of us sitting in ice boats, and the other half riding Appa. It wasn't exactly something I was looking forward to.
I heard movement behind me and turned around to see Zuko jump off of Appa. Still groggy, he nodded at me before walking off into the woods. I tried not to think of what he was no doubt going back there to do, so I turned my attention to clearing the snow from a single circular spot on the ground. Once it was cleared of snow to the best of my ability, I started finding branches to pile up for a fire.
After I'd piled up the wood, I sat back with a frown; I had no matches, and I was no firebender. I grumbled to myself, ornery that I was going to have to sit and freeze until Zuko came back. I did my best to warm my hands, but they were already getting to the point where I could barely even move them. Finally, I heard the telltale crunch of snow that indicated Zuko was returning. I turned around to see him start to climb back onto Appa.
"Uh-uh, no!" I said rather loudly, jumping up, "You're coming over here and lighting this fire so I don't freeze!"
I pointed a finger at the pile of wood. Zuko looked at me like I was crazy, partly because he was still tired and mostly because, well, I am a little crazy. He walked over and lit up the pieces of wood, which were reluctant to burn.
"Thanks," I said cheerfully, even though I was far from cheerful. I held my hands over the spluttering fire, resisting the urge to complain about how pathetic the fire was. Well, resisting the urge to complain out loud, that is.
Later, after everyone except Sokka (why is he so lazy?) woke up, I finally became impatient with how pathetic our firewood was. I stood up with a sigh.
"I'm going to look for firewood that might actually burn," I announced, starting to walk towards the edge of the woods. When I reached the edge of the clearing, I hesitated.
"Um," I said sheepishly, "Anyone wanna come with me?"
Sonset volunteered, and she was shortly followed by Katara. Anya stood up next.
"Well, if you're so scared, I'll go," she teased. I rolled my eyes sarcastically.
"Oh, well, having you with me makes me feel so much better," I teased right back. We set off in the opposite direction of the shore, towards the heart of the island. We were looking for wood that hadn't been touched by the snow, and the most likely place for that was where the forest was thicker.
_Anya_
We split up when we reached the inactive volcano at the center of the island. The forest was at its thickest there, and it even continued up the volcano for a while. I was focusing on finding the branches of trees that hadn't been touched by the snow, which seemed closer to melting there. Even though my breath still formed clouds in front of me, I could still feel that it was warmer there. I didn't really think about it much as I gathered branches, although I did notice that more and more branches were wet instead of covered in snow and ice.
As I continued along, I suddenly stumbled upon a spot that had no snow; it was just one large puddle. Confused, I looked towards the center of the semicircular puddle, and saw the entrance to a cave. Curious, I shifted the firewood to my right arm and walked towards the cave entrance, starting a ball of fire in my left hand for light. I took a few steps into the cave and saw that the end seemed to be nowhere in sight. A took a couple more steps and noticed that the cave was at a downward incline, sometimes steep, and sometimes sloping down more gently. I smiled to myself and walked back to the entrance to the cave, setting my armful of wood down in a pile next to the mouth of the cave.
"Hey, guys, check this out!" I called excitedly.
_Tara_
"Hey, guys, check this out!" I heard Anya call. I sighed and turned towards where her voice had come from. I started to move in that direction, keeping my eyes on the ground so that I wouldn't trip on tree roots and branches, when suddenly the snow at my feet was gone, replaced by water.
"What the…" I muttered, looking up to see Anya standing in front of a cave entrance. Katara and Sonset arrived just after I did.
"Isn't it cool?" Anya asked, a fire starting in her palm as she turned around and started walking into the cave.
"Come on," she called over her shoulder, quickening her pace.
"Anya, wait, isn't this a bad idea?" I called after her. She didn't stop, and she was already deep into the cave. I grumbled to myself as I set my pile of wood down next to hers and rushed after her. Sonset then made the decision to do the same, and finally Katara followed last, reluctantly and after some hesitation.
The air in the cave was warm, and the deeper we went into the cave, the stuffier it got. After a bit I was panting, because it was feeling harder and harder to breath in the stuffy air. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. Would an inactive volcano really be that warm? The thought made me nervous.
"Uh, guys?" I started, "I think we should go back—"
I felt something hit the back of my head hard, and I blacked out.
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