Duron and Sokka spent most of the morning looking for the entrance to the caverns under the Ald'gean Mountains. Once they found the small cave-like opening, they landed with Appa and rested until near the noon hour. Everyone was exhausted after the night prior, none more so than Duron. His head was slowly starting to feel better, but he still occasionally felt sharp pains in the side of his head.
The mountains were just as he and his family left them. The hard grey stone was visible from the side. A second layer possessed the openings to the caverns. The second layer was a softer, and brighter grey stone. Duron privately suspected it to be compact clay, but never found the time to test that suspicion. The entrances were hidden behind vines, hanging down from trees at the top of the mountain. But to enter the caverns, you would have to walk through a thirty-foot thick, and single foot high, river that ran alongside the mountains. The stream was weak as usual, and it mostly felt like a warm swamp. The river came down from a waterfall a few dozen feet back, and when the water was at the peak of the mountains, the sun heated it so as it had a soft warmth touch. No fish swam in the river, because of the waterfall, but occasionally a few turtle-doves would fly by, and rest in the softly-flowing river. Three foot high sugarcane grew alongside parts of the river, making the entrances even more hidden to the untrained eye. A second entrance was twenty feet left of the smaller one.
The air was slightly humid, but the air was cool, and the humid air seemed to be a cold sprinkle on their faces. The sunrise was barely noticeable over the high mountains, only the sky's color's change made it visible.
"Is this it?" Sokka asked.
Duron slowly crawled off his back and looked over the edge of Appa's saddle.
"Yes," he replied. "Take Appa to the larger entrance-we'll set up camp in their."
As Sokka guided Appa into the entrance, he became nervous. Appa didn't seem to like caves for some reason. Appa gave a soft moan.
"Does Appa not like caves?" Duron asked.
"Ask Aang, I never paid attention to those sort of things," Sokka admitted.
Duron gave a sigh of slight annoyment.
The ceiling of the cave was soft and smooth. After a few feet from the entrance the ceiling was curved and arched to a circular point at the top. The walls were carved as well-various patterns were etched into the clay-like walls.
The entrance tunnel ended after a short while and several smaller openings appeared.
"Land here, this is the main area," Duron instructed.
Appa heard Duron and simply collapsed onto the floor-he was exhausted from flying for so long. The sudden bump of Appa's decent awoke the rest of the group. Aang and Katara yawned as they stretched their arms.
"Where are we?" Aang asked, his voice slow and slurred.
Duron replied, "inside the Ald'gean Mountains. This is where my family hid immediately after the Fire Nation started hunting us."
"Wow," Katara gasped with awe. "The carvings."
"Let's just say my family had a lot of spare time on their hands before they built the wooden house," Duron smirked.
"So they dug out all of this?" Katara inquired.
"No, the caves are natural. They only smoothed and carved small portions of it," Duron corrected. "My father brought us here once every summer, he said there was a... spiritual significance that regarded this area. I carved about a foot of decorations in here as well."
Aang sprung to his feet and jumped off of Appa's back, he used airbending to soften the blow to his feet as he landed. Duron would of done the same, but the sharp pains in his head prevented him from moving too fast. Still, Duron moved as quickly as he could without hurting his head too much.
"Duron! You shouldn't push yourself too hard!" Katara urged as she watched his stumble to the ground.
"It's alright. I fell a little better," Duron lied, putting on a smile to hide the pain.
Katara wasn't convinced. The concerned look on her face didn't recede.
"Still, you should take it a little easy," she replied. "I want to do another healing session later."
Aang was paying attention-he investigating the carvings on the walls. A certain section caught his eye.
"These are the symbols for harmony and balance," Aang stated.
"We have a large collection of symbols inscribed here. My family started to carve them into these caves before we went into hiding. My father added the symbols regarding profundity, wisdom, and enlightenment."
After a short pause Aang asked, "which symbols did you add?"
Duron was slow to respond, "guidance, individuality, and... family."
Duron took a deep breath.
"We should set up."