A/N: (edit: 7/1/07) holy fan fictiono.o… I'm so sorry to all of you that it has taken me…what… like a month now to update, I'm sorry... school and stuff kind of gets in the way... it's either that or just being so darn lazy Oo... but you know, here's chapter 8 Enjoy!
Book Two – Water and Air
Chapter Eight- The Bird Cage
Katara squinted through the soft sunshine of the morning, obviously confused as to where she was. The last thing she remembered was sitting with Aang on the ship which led back to the main island. Katara opened her eyes further and looked up to see that her head was gently rested on Aang's lap, past him was nothing but cloudy skies.
She mumbled something and attempted to avoid morning, but nothing helped, not even Aang's soothing voice; he was speaking to Sokka, although Katara was too tired to understand their conversation at the moment.
"Is she awake?" Sokka questioned softly, Katara could feel both of the boys eyes laid on her. She grew tense until she felt Aang's gentle hand sweep a few strands of hair from her face to behind her ear, with this, Katara smiled and slowly opened her eyes.
"Yep," Aang said with a smile.
"It's about time; you've been sleeping all morning! It's almost noon!" Sokka squealed, causing Katara to let out a soft sigh and remain her sleeping position.
"We had a long night, Sokka, you'd be tired too," Aang said softly.
"Excuses," Sokka said before he pushed himself to his feet with a long, drawn out sigh.
Katara sat up slowly before she rubbed her eyes and looked about, eyes scanning her surroundings. It then hit her that the three were high above the cold ocean on Appa. With this, Katara grew confused.
"Wh-where's the village...Jahdi, Seta and everyone?" Katara questioned softly as she stared at Aang through parted eyes, Aang chuckled.
"You slept through everything, we said our goodbyes to everyone about two or three hours ago," Aang said with a small laugh, "You've been asleep since the boat ride home last night,"
"Oh..." Katara said softly as she looked about, "Whoops...sorry," Katara glanced about as she sat up further close to Aang; she gave him a soft smile before rubbing her eyes free of sleep.
"That's okay," Aang said with a smile before he took a calm deep breath and stared up to the cloudy sky, "So..." Aang began to fiddle his fingers in a nervous manner, "Last night was a lot of fun," he said with a bashful smile.
"Yeah," Katara said, feeling her face heat up, "I-"
"Oh MOMO!" Sokka interrupted loudly, the two teens quickly looked over to see Momo gently fiddling with the beautiful panda lily Aang had given Katara the night before, Sokka continued his annoying banter, "Is that rare flower for me? Oh you're too kind," Sokka quickly took the flower from Momo's grip, causing Momo to perk up in an agitated manner, Katara instantly tensed.
"Sokka! Give that back, it's very special to me and you're going to ruin it!" Katara said loudly as she snatched the flower straight from Sokka's hands.
"Hey!" Sokka screeched, "I was looking at that! Hey, how did you even get a flower that rare anyways?" Sokka asked, Katara gently fluffed the long, black and white petals of her prized possession; a small smile crept across her face, as well as a light blush.
"Aang gave it to me," Katara said softly, she kept her head down, not wanting to see the look on Sokka's face although she was surprised to find Sokka not getting caught in an enormous laughing fit.
"That's nice," Sokka said kindly before he heaved a long sigh and looked about, "So... where to next?"
"Have you forgotten already?" Katara said with a small laugh as she looked up, "The South Pole is where we're headed,"
"No, I knew THAT..." Sokka said with a smug look on his face, "I-I meant where are we going to stop to get something to-"
"Eat?" Aang interrupted with a big smile, causing Sokka to glower in Aang's direction. Katara laughed as Aang continued to tease Sokka further.
"Guys, calm down, Sokka's right...I'm kind of hungry too," Katara smiled sheepishly, Sokka perked up with a big grin plastered on his face.
"YES! I'm so hungry, you guys have no clue, I-I bet I could eat a WHOLE entire hog monkey and still have room for a platyp--" Sokka was cut off by a large piece of parchment that had been carried by the wind to suddenly covered his face. He screeched and quickly ripped the piece of paper free from himself before he glanced at it in confusement.
"...This doesn't make any sense!" Sokka hollered as Katara scoot closer to him, with this, Katara rolled her eyes.
"That's because it's upside down, Sokka," Katara said in a displeased manner before she took the large paper from Sokka's grip. She studied it for a minute before she smiled and handed it over to Aang.
"I'm pretty sure we can find some food there," Sokka said with a smile as he watched Aang inspect the large piece of paper.
"Come see the bird cage..." Aang started aloud, "Open from sunrise to sundown, three days a week," Aang glanced between the two teens before him, one of which had a big, hungry grin plastered on his face, "Sokka, how on earth are we going to find food in a BIRD CAGE,"
"HEY it was an idea!" Sokka hollered, "You never know!"
"You'd only find bird food in it, what's the point of going!?" Katara yelled as she took the piece of paper from Aang.
"Why would a bird cage be 'open' from sunrise to sundown, three days a week?" Sokka asked himself, Katara shook her head.
"Who knows...well...if it's open to the public, there has to be food somewhere where people can eat, we should just go check it out," Katara said as she rolled up the parchment, she then put it in Sokka's green burlap bag before heading over to Appa's reins. Sokka continued to argue with his sister.
"Why would a bird cage be open to the public?" he questioned loudly, Katara continued to ignore him.
In no time, the three had landed somewhere in the southern earth kingdom, where the directions on the parchment had led them.
"Three hours later," Sokka complained as he hopped off of Appa's saddle to stretch, Katara rolled her eyes for the tenth time.
"Hey at least we found the city," Katara said loudly, "These directions are so poorly planned out," she frowned as she stared down at the paper she held close to her.
"Is this MY fault?" Sokka yelled as he quickly looked about.
"Guys calm down," Aang said softly as he stood in between the two bickering siblings, "I know we're all hungry and tired of flying so let's just go find some food before you two rip each others heads off," Aang said loudly as he began to walk in the direction of the town they were near by.
Pretty soon, the three had found a lone food shop after a few minutes of walking around town.
"Sokka that's not fair!" Katara said loudly
"Now what's wrong?! I'm just eating!" Sokka complained as he stared at his sister, confused at her sudden outburst.
"You promised me you'd save some of the rice for Kaimah," Katara said with a frown, Sokka stopped chewing his food and stared down at the empty china bowl before him. He then looked up with a sheepish smile.
"Whoops," Sokka chuckled with his mouth full.
"Aang's kind enough to save some of his food for Momo," Katara pointed out as Aang gave the rest of his rice to his lemur, Sokka rolled his eyes.
"Then why don't you give Kaimah some of YOUR food, huh?" Sokka complained.
"Sokka, we shared the rice! Because YOU didn't have enough money to buy your own food because YOU spent your share on dinner last night because YOU were careless about how much money you should use because YOU--"
"Alright I get it! I'm sorry, okay? It's not like Kaimah'll starve," Sokka said as he motioned to the little cub in Katara's lap, Kaimah chirped meekly before she made herself comfortable, Katara gently pet the cub before she glared at Sokka.
Sokka continued to search his bowl for scrapings of rice as Aang gently pat Momo's head while he ate. Katara stroked Kaimah's soft fur and glanced about the small shop they were in, she noticed a group of boys across the shop at another table, talking loudly and enjoying their own company; Katara couldn't help but listen in on their conversation.
"I went there yesterday!" One boy hollered happily to another, "It's so messy though,"
"You went to the bird cage?" another boy questioned, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Yeah but you have to wear special head gear," The boy chimed as he glanced about.
"Why's that?" another asked.
"Or else you'll get pooped on by all the birds, duh," the other said loudly, all at once, they all began to laugh loudly in a cocky manner.
Katara quickly looked at the two boys sitting across the table from her, a big smile spreading across her face.
"No, I WON'T be hungry in an hour or so, why?" Sokka asked Aang in an annoyed tone.
"I was just wondering," Aang said with a small laugh as he pat Momo's head.
Just as Katara was about to say something to tease her brother, a loud, almost ear piercing whistle was heard. Katara could instantly feel her whole body tense, and with that, she quickly glanced down by Aang's hands. She noticed his bison whistle sitting on the table top, not being used, and with that, she grew flustered.
Within seconds, Momo became agitated, his large ears perked up and his green eyes grew wide, he seemed to have forgotten about the food in the bowl before him. With this, Katara instantly peered down at Kaimah to see her sitting on her haunches, ears and eyes more than alert. All was chaotic in Katara's mind, that is until Kaimah suddenly hissed, her ears laid flat on her head in anger.
Momo suddenly screeched and spread his bat-like wings before he took off out of the little food shop; he flew to who knows where. Katara jumped slightly, feeling a sudden adrenaline rush shoot through her body. Her heart beat so quickly, she wasn't even sure if it was beating, or normally for that matter.
Katara quickly glanced at the two boys before her, they held a conversation as normally as possible, and evidently they didn't hear the loud whistle that was still ringing in Katara's ears.
"I don't know, he'll be back," Aang said nonchalantly, Sokka shrugged and looked down at his empty food bowl.
Katara stared wide eyed through the open door that was directly behind her friends, she sat on the edge of her seat, feeling Kaimah's sharp claws slowly sinking into the thin cloth of her watertribe kimono. Katara winced and gently set Kaimah on the empty chair next to her before, all at once, she heard the loud whistle again.
Katara perked up before she could hear a deep growl come from the very depths of Kaimah's throat. With this, Katara instantly stood and sprinted through the open door, feeling like that whistle was calling her, telling her to follow its very sound. Just as she came outside, she could hear Aang's voice, but she couldn't understand him, nothing sounded normal to her at the moment.
Katara ran through the unfamiliar town, she felt as if she knew exactly where she was going, as if she has lived in this little village for years. From time to time she'd spot Momo just in her line of vision; flying in the same direction she was headed.
Katara felt her feet take her faster and faster to her destination, wherever that was. All was going smoothly until she quickly turned a corner, only to slam into a large, gated door. Katara yelped and hit the ground, landing on her back. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath of the cool air around her, having had it knocked out of her.
Katara coughed slightly and sat up, she rubbed her forehead in pain when suddenly, and she noticed Momo sitting in front of her, a confused look on his face. Katara reached out and gently pet Momo's head, he murmured in his little language as she pet him; he seemed to be after the same thing Katara was after.
"It's alright Momo," Katara said softly, feeling her conscious gradually come back to her, her vision became clear again. Katara sighed softly and slowly pushed herself to her feet; she then picked Momo up and glanced down at him. He stared upwards in a baffled manner, causing Katara to follow his line of vision. There, before the two, was an enormous dome like structure that stretched to the skies. Katara felt as if she was straining her neck to even catch a glimpse of the top, or near it anyways.
Katara blinked a couple times before she slowly took a look at what was in front of her. There was a large, closed off door. Above the huge door were a few words.
"The Bird Cage," Katara read softly to no one but herself and Momo, he chirped and rearranged himself in Katara's arms, "So that's what the flyer was talking about,"
Katara stepped closer to the door; Momo jumped out of her arms and quickly attached himself to the large metal bars blocking the entrance. He screeched loudly and pawed at the door, as if he wanted to get in. Katara pressed both hands to the cold metal, wanting the same thing Momo did, she being just as confused as him.
"I wonder why it's closed," Katara said to Momo, his ears laid flat in confusion before a loud voice was heard behind the two.
"Hey you! This area is off limits!" an angry voice yelled, Katara whirled around to see two large earth kingdom soldiers running towards her and Momo. Katara's eyes widened as she glanced at Momo, only to find that he wasn't next to her anymore.
"Momo?" Katara questioned softly and meekly, she suddenly heard a soft chattering to her right. She quickly looked down to see Momo crouched near a small opening in the dome like structure. With a small chirp, Momo jumped into the little hole, hoping Katara would follow. Katara sighed loudly and, without thinking, got down on all fours in preparation to follow Aang's little lemur.
With much ease, Katara slowly crawled through the hole in the wall, hearing the two guards after her going crazy at the fact that Katara was trespassing into territory she wasn't supposed to be in. Katara smiled as she made her way through the dark tunnel, she loved a good chase.
"Momo," Katara whispered as she crawled, shortly after, the lemur made a soft noise, signaling that he was there, "Where are you taking me?"
No noise was heard from Momo, the only sound present was the soft pitter patter of Katara's hands and knees on the cold ground. Katara was starting to feel her breath become short, that is until she saw a small stream of light just ahead of her, as well as the outline of Momo's large ears.
Momo screeched softly and ran to the opening; he quickly shoved his arm through the small hole as if he were searching for something. Katara patiently waited behind him, amazed that no matter how little and small brained an animal could be, Momo never ceased to amaze her at how human like he was at times. Katara smiled and pat his head as he continued his work.
In no time, Momo managed to somehow get the hidden door before them open, letting in a mass amount of light into the small, dark tunnel the two were in. Momo screeched with much happiness and quickly darted out of the hole, Katara joined him and pushed herself to her feet; she stood and peered through the calm lighting around her. Trees. Nothing but trees. Katara stared at her surroundings for a moment in a baffled manner.
"Where am I?" Katara questioned as she began to slowly stroll around, that is until she came to a small dirt trail that seemed to lead to nowhere, she figured that out after a good few minutes of following it.All was calm in the dank, eerie forest Katara walked through, that is until she heard something.
"Psst-" it hissed, Katara whirled around, frightened somewhat as the bushes across the way rustled slightly. Katara could suddenly feel the hairs on the back of her neck stick on end, and the thought of someone watching her was now present in her mind.
- - -
"I don't know! How am I supposed to know why she just all of the sudden took off!?" Aang hollered to Sokka, the two boys quickly paced the town in desperate search for Katara and Momo.
"Hold her," Sokka said firmly as he quickly shoved little Kaimah into Aang's arms, Aang obeyed as Sokka quickly ran over to a few bickering guards of the town.
"Excuse me, but I'm looking for my sister, have you seen a--" Sokka was cut off by one of the guards suddenly.
"Young man, this area is off limits! We're already having issues with a girl that has just trespassed into the Bird Cage," one guard said loudly.
"The Bird Cage?" Sokka questioned before he fingered his lip and continued to himself, "Why does that sound so familiar to me? Maybe it's--hm, nope,"
"Sir?" Another guard questioned, Sokka shook his head and began to back away.
"N-nothing, thanks," Sokka said before he quickly ran back over to Aang who was standing far off, holding Kaimah.
"Well?" Aang asked as Sokka approached.
"Dah, they wouldn't tell me anything, they told me I was trespassing and that there was some sort of girl that just went into the Bird Cage or something or other," Sokka mumbled as he plainly looked about.
"A girl?" Aang questioned loudly, "That could be Katara!"
"Pshh, why would Katara go into a Bird Cage?" Sokka said with a small chuckle as he placed his hands on his hips. Aang blankly stared at him with a small frown, Kaimah shifted multiple times in Aang's arms before she managed to get free of his grip. She quickly pranced out of Aang's arms and headed towards the group of guards just a bit away, Aang gasped.
"Kaimah, no!" Aang whispered loudly as he quickly began to chase after her, he then stopped himself and turned around to see Sokka rummaging through his green burlap bag, that rested on his side, as carefree as possible.
"Come on Sokka!" Aang hollered before he quickly turned around, only to find Kaimah had vanished, evidently around the corner. Aang sighed loudly and apprehensively glanced over at the group of guards standing a bit a ways, he then took a deep breath as he began to run in the direction Kaimah went, whether the guards saw him or not. Sure enough, they began to frantically run after Aang in a hurried manner.
The guards continued to grow in number and speed, with this, Aang grew worried. With a large hand motion and a gust of wind, Aang quickly formed his air scooter and hopped on. He smiled with success as he sped off, out of sight and around a corner. He slowly glanced over his shoulder to see the guards, that were chasing him, far off, getting agitated. All was going well until he suddenly slammed into something, causing his air scooter to vanish and his concentration of his surroundings to fall slack completely.
After a few moments of rubbing his forehead and uttering a few non-understandable words, Aang opened his eyes and looked up to see what has caused his sudden crash. The large dome like structure sat there before him, towering over everything around it. Aang gazed upwards in a baffled manner before he heard Sokka's voice.
"Get off of me!" He screeched, Aang quickly stood and turned around, suddenly feeling a headache come on. He stood, rubbing his eyes for a moment before he removed his hands and noticed Sokka quickly scrambling away from the few guards chasing him.
"Aang!" He hollered angrily as he gradually came closer, "Way to ditch me!"
"I'm sorry, I was trying to get Kaim--" Aang stopped himself and quickly looked about, "Wait... Where's Kaimah?"
"How am I supposed to kn-" Sokka was cut off by a small, hollowed out chirp, and without words, the two boys instantly scrambled in the direction of the small noise. They came to find Kaimah sitting in a small hole poorly engraved in the side of the large dome.
"Found her!" Sokka exclaimed as he pointed down to the little cub, Aang sighed loudly and bent down in preparation to pick little Kaimah up, only to have her quickly dart backwards and crawl into the very depths of the hole. Aang quickly shoved his arm into the hole in attempt to catch the sneaky cub but she was already long gone, only little chirps at the far end of the tunnel could be heard.
"Here we go," Sokka mumbled as he crossed his arms in dismay, Aang sighed loudly and got down on all fours, "Aang, what are you doing?"
"Come on Sokka, we've gotta go get Kaimah," Aang said softly, slightly annoyed, as he slowly made his way into the small hole in the dome.
"Mm-mm no way, there's no way I'm going in there," Sokka said as he looked about, hoping Aang would agree, he then, after a few moments, opened his eyes and looked about to see that Aang had vanished into the hole, Sokka shuddered slightly before getting down on all fours, "Hold on air boy, I'm coming,"
- - -
"Who's there," Katara whispered softly as she looked about, feeling her adrenaline rush, her fists tense, her heart rate speed up. She calmed down after a few moment of silence between her and the forest around her. She slowly took a step backwards in preparation to wander somewhere else, in high hopes of finding a way out of the maze she was in.
She turned around fully before something bright green and yellow below her caught her eyes. She stopped herself and looked down to see a small bird staring up at her. Katara stared back in amazement that the little bird wasn't flying away in fear of being stepped on.
"The dome is closed, are you lost?" the bird suddenly uttered, Katara stared down at the little creature in shock for a moment before she slowly and bashfully shook her head. The bird spread its beautiful wings out wide before slowly flying up to a near by branch on one of the large trees of the forest.
"Then why are you hear?" the bird asked again, now looking down at Katara. Katara slowly looked about in confusement at the fact that she was talking to a bird.
"I-I don't know really," Katara said softly before the bird up above slowly began to hop to higher braches of the tree it was nested in, Katara's eyes widened, "Wait, wait!" she said quickly as she ran to the tree, she then began to climb it with much difficulty, she pushed back large limbs and twigs out of her way.
"Uh--wait!" Katara called softly to the bird in attempt to follow it. In a matter of minutes, she came to a large branch; she also found the small bird calmly resting at the tip of the branch. Katara slowly began to make her way over to the bird before she made herself comfortable.
"Who are you?" Katara questioned with the most genuine curiosity.
"My names Vera," the bird said happily, "and you're the Vyntresser, no?"
"Yeah-wait, how did you know that?" Katara asked in a baffled manner, Vera stared up at her for a moment.
"Why else would a human be talking to me?" Vera said with a small laugh, Katara looked about and rubbed the back of her head, "Our species has been waiting for you to come for quite some time now,"
"What? What do you mean?" Katara asked, Vera looked about.
"A lot of generations of us birds have been trapped in this dome for over a hundred years," Vera said sadly, "We've always had hope that the Vyntresser would come and get us out of here, so we can be free, actually fly without hitting your head when you've gone too high,"
Katara looked up to see where the dome ended, there was no sky, no sun, no clouds and the air inside the dome was as stuffy as ever. Katara sadly looked down at Vera.
"But you're here now! You can free us!" Vera said happily.
"Free you?" Katara asked softly, noticing Vera's mood suddenly swing from happy to sad.
"Yeah, it's the Vyntressers duty to help his or her own kind," Vera said before motioning her wing to the forest before her, "-and just to let you know, we're not doing so well being trapped up in here, we're birds, we deserve to fly,"
"So, all of you have been trapped in here for a hundred years?" Katara questioned, Vera nodded.
"Well, I haven't, I'm not that old," Vera said with a small laugh, "But many generations of birds have been, the city officials gathered all of the birds within the city limits and stuck in here for show, they supposedly thought we were rare or something...I remember my grandfather telling me all types of stories from when they trapped us all in here...and from that point on, this place wasn't known as home...it was known as The Bird Cage," Vera explained, Katara looked about slowly, desperately attempting to find a way to get the birds free. She pondered for moments on end, but sadly, nothing came to mind.
- - -
"Quit it!" Sokka hissed as the two crawled in the large tunnel that led to who knows where, Aang stopped crawling, causing Sokka to bump into him for the tenth time, "Aang!"
"You try dealing with a painful headache, have someone behind you arguing until he's blue in the face, not having a single clue as to where you're going, AND attempting to find your girlfriend's pet that just so happened to wander into a dark hole that leads nowhere!" Aang hollered, letting his voice echo on for a few seconds. Aang then quickly began to crawl forward in attempt of loosing Sokka in the dark tunnel.
"So..." Sokka started after a few moments of silently crawling, " your girlfriend, huh?" Sokka teased, causing Aang to fall silent. After a good minute, Sokka began to laugh.
"What's so funny," Aang muttered, feeling his face heat up slightly.
"Ahh nothing," Sokka sighed happily. Aang shook his head and quickly began to crawl at a faster pace in desperate attempt of loosing Sokka, that is until he saw light streaming through at the end of the tunnel.
"Look! A way out," Aang said happily, the two crawled for a little bit until they reached the end of the tunnel.
"Where are we?" Sokka asked as he stood next to Aang, the two baffled boys stared out to the dense forest before them, Aang shrugged.
"I don't know," Aang said softly as he looked about, all was calm in his mind until Sokka playfully nudged his arm and began to walk forward.
"Come on, let's go save your girlfriend's pet," Sokka teased with a loud laugh, Aang instantly blushed and looked about before he rubbed the back of his head. He then slowly followed behind Sokka with a small smile on his face.
- - -
"Any ideas, Vyntresser?" Vera questioned as she lightly fluffed her brilliant green and yellow feathers, Katara glanced down at the little bird before her.
"Not yet," Katara said softly before she peered upwards, the ceiling of the dome seemed to stretch for miles, and just as Katara was about to say something, she heard a familiar noise below her. She quickly looked down to the ground to see none other than Kaimah, getting ready to climb the tree her owner was in. "Kaimah!" Katara exclaimed happily as Kaimah made her way from branch to branch.
"Who's this?" Vera questioned, getting somewhat nervous that the large cub was now making her way across the branch.
"This is Kaimah...I wonder how she knew where I was," Katara said softly as she gently picked the cub up into her loving arms, "Did she follow me?"
"Hey," Vera started in a thoughtful manner, "This cheetah cub, she's one of your Vyntresser forms, isn't she?"
"Yeah, why?" Katara questioned as Kaimah pawed her kimono.
"Well, how did you find her? Why did she of all animals become your pet?" Vera questioned, Katara pondered for a moment.
"She was abandoned, we couldn't just leave her to fend for herself, she looked as if she were only a few days old when we rescued her," Katara answered, Vera perked up.
"See, you rescued her, you saved one of your Vyntresser forms, that is one of the main things that's helping you to get from form to form, you see, without care for your Vyntresser forms, you'd be nowhere, and you'd definitely would be nowhere if it weren't for the love of the Avat--" Vera was cut off.
"Where do you think we could find something to eat?" Sokka complained from down below, Katara quickly looked down in somewhat surprise; she then heard Aang's voice.
"You just ate!" He said loudly, "We don't even know where we are or where we're going and you still want food?"
"WELL, isn't that the situation all the time? I mean, half of the time we sit on Appa, not knowing where we are or where we're going so what's the difference," Sokka stated as he threw his arms in the air and continued walking, Katara began to laugh at their pointless conversation, and with that, the two boys curiously peered up into the tree Katara, Vera and Kaimah were in.
"Katara?" Aang questioned, Sokka pointed and began to laugh.
"Hey! I found your girlfriend," Sokka said loudly, Aang glared in his direction.
"Guys, how did you get in here?" Katara asked as Kaimah happily scrambled out of her arms and down the tree, over to Aang.
"That's just what I was going to ask you, what are you doing?" Sokka asked, Katara shrugged and glanced down at Vera.
"Talking to Sparrowkeets," she said plainly, the two boys below blankly stared at her, Katara frowned, "No seriously! Vera has a lot to say,"
"Who's Vera?" Aang questioned, Katara pointed down to the little bird next to her.
"A bird... You're friends with a bird," Sokka stated plainly, Katara tensed.
"She's not just a 'bird', her whole species has been trapped in this dome for over a hundred years, we've got to help them escape," Katara said as she looked about, everyone fell silent.
"How," Aang said softly after a few moments, Katara glanced about.
"Well, I'm not sure but maybe we can--"
"Wait a minute!" Sokka interrupted, everyone stared at him, "Oh-ho! I see what's really going on here, how on earth did you know that this...birds' species has been trapped in this dome for a hundred years?"
"She-she told me," Katara said softly.
"She told you, do you guys have any idea why Katara is talking to birds out of the blue?!" Sokka said loudly, nothing but silence was present, "Okay, I'll give you two a hint, does the word 'panda lily' ring a bell? Lover's festival? Maybe two certain people I know KISSED sometime oh... last night?!" Katara blushed and looked down at Vera, Aang crossed his arms and looked at his feet, he could feel a small smile slowly creep its way across his face, and Sokka chuckled slightly.
"You guys," Sokka started, "This is just he beginning of another form Katara'll turn into, cuz you two lovebirds just won't quit, will you," Sokka laughed, Aang chuckled in a bashful manner and rubbed the back of his bald head. Katara continued to stare at Vera before she spoke up.
"So, I'm going to turn into a bird?" Katara asked, Sokka threw his hands in the air.
"How on earth am I supposed to know? But you always end up acting strange before these types of things happen," Sokka said as he rested his arms by his side, Katara fingered her lip.
"He's got a point," Katara said as she looked at Aang with a smile.
"We should get out of here, guys, there were a few guards outside that looked a bit angry that we were even near this place," Sokka said softly as he looked about. All was deathly silent, that is before loud voices were heard through the very depths of the trees, both boys turned around in shock.
"The guards!" Aang said in shock before he quickly looked up to Katara, "What do we do?" Katara instantly made her way out of the tree and next to Aang, Katara shrugged as the three stood, tensed up. The voices of the guards could be heard rummaging through the shrubbery, slowly inching their way to the three teens. Katara shook her head before she quickly looked about, she then broke the silence.
"Run," Katara said softly, and without words, the three took off in an opposite direction than the guards. After a few minutes of running and pushing their way through tree branches and vines, Sokka spoke.
"Where are we running to?" he questioned loudly, Katara glanced back at him.
"To that hole that led us in here in the first place, where is it?" Katara asked, suddenly, Aang stopped running, causing the other two to stop directly in their tracks, "Aang, what are you doing?"
"There's no other way out of here, we're not going to find that hole in time," Aang said as he hurriedly rummaged through his shirt, "I'm calling Appa," Aang panted, Sokka shook his head.
"How on earth is Appa going to be able to come in here!?" Sokka screeched, Aang quickly whipped out his bison whistle.
" I don't know, let's find out," Aang panted before he took a deep breath and blew into his trusty bison whistle, Katara instantly slapped her hands over her ears, now being able to hear the loud, ear shattering noise the bison whistle gave off.
- - -
Appa groaned happily, having being groomed by one of the city locals. All was good in his mind until he heard the whistle. The noise seemed to echo throughout the whole city and with that, Appa instantly let out a loud groan and got to his feet. He then took off in the direction of his owner.
He flew over the spot where the noise was coming from, which was The Bird Cage. He wasn't too sure if the sound was coming from inside the dome or around it. He landed on the sturdy peak of the large dome of the city, every few moments the whistle could be heard, louder than ever in his ears, he knew if something wasn't done about the bison call, his caretakers could be in danger. All was calm until he began to stomp down on the center of the dome, irritated that the loud noise wouldn't stop. He groaned loudly and continued to stomp his large feet down on the top of the dome.
- - -
"It's pointless, Aang, we need to find another way out of here," Sokka said loudly, " There's no way Appa could break through thi--" All at once, the whole entire dome began to shake, all the trees and surroundings began to stir in an unnatural manner.
"What's happening?" Katara asked loudly as the three stared up to the tall ceiling of the Bird Cage.
"It's Appa," Aang said to the two next to him, they continued to stare upwards, that is until the tip of the dome began to cave in, pieces of metal began to fall, revealing the brilliant light of the sun and sky outside, along with little glimpses of Aang's flying bison.
Everything began to shake chaotically; the birds in the forest began to flock to the opening at the top of the dome. Although, things only got worse, Appa's frustration caused him to stomp down on the dome hard enough until the whole structure began to collapse further. The spherical shape of the building continued to crack until it couldn't hold Appa's weight anymore. Appa, along with large pieces of metal came crashing in. He hit the ground causing the earth to shake even more than what it was, trees crashed to the ground as well as remains of the dome. All was calm again after a few moments, except for the loud, irritated groans coming from Appa who laid further inland in the dome.
"W-what do you know," Sokka said, a little shaken up, Katara and Aang instantly began to run and find Appa, Sokka continued to talk, "It-it worked..."
"Aang!" Katara said happily as she slowed her running somewhat to gaze up to the bright sky. She noticed all the birds, that were once trapped in the Bird Cage, begin to make their way out of their prison and to freedom, Katara couldn't help but smile, "We did it, we freed them,"
"That's great Katara but... there's a problem," Aang said softly, Katara quickly averted her gaze from the sky to Aang, noticing him standing next to Appa. Appa let out a loud, painful groan as he lay completely beaten on the forest floor. Aang stood next to his right foreleg with a worried look on his face. Katara instantly ran over in a hurried manner.
"What happened?" Katara questioned, Aang slowly bent over and began to pick Appa's large paw up, and within that one instant, Appa let out a loud, ear shattering groan. The two teens quickly backed away from Appa, hands covering their ears for protection.
"Appa's hurt," Aang said softly, the two stared at Appa, scared for what they have just put Aang's bison through just for their own protection. The two continued to stare at Appa in a horrific manner, all that was heard was the quick and painful breathing of the bison before them. Terrified, the teens stood motionless, questions flew threw their thoughts. All was calm, that is until the sound of Appa's breath becoming short and falling slack was present.
Aang stared at his bison, not entirely sure what to do at the moment, he remembered back to how they lost Appa to those sand benders in the desert, but he felt as if his pet being lost was just as bad as his pet being injured. Tears began to sting Aang's eyes, he being scared to death of what was to become of his bison; however, this was just the beginning of their nightmare.
A/N: Sorry I kind of...killed the mood in the end, lol, but it all has a reason. And I plan to make the story a little bit darker from here on out... but it will still be the same, don't worry There will be plenty of Kataang romance, and hopefully I will make that just a tad bit darker too...lol but who knows. ;) Hope you enjoyed it! Please R&R! No flames I'd appreciate it greatly.
-Katara-
Mohalo ;)