Chapter Eleven: Pirates and Precious Cargo
Aang smiled. He placed his newly finished origami frog on the library table. The small, round table was littered with books from Aang's early morning research and other origami animals. Aang had made them while distracted in his research. He positioned the frog in an empty spot and pushed down on its paper haunches. The frog hopped, springing up each time Aang pressed down. Aang laughed as he watched his handiwork hop about, unaware of Katara watching from the doorway.
Katara stifled a laugh as she watched her boyfriend. She had come to bring Aang his breakfast. All Katara knew was that Aang had skipped breakfast to hang in the library. Katara wondered what he was doing. Aang never missed breakfast or a chance to socialize. Aang and Katara had been at the Northern Air Temple for three days. It had been a peaceful three days with lots of gliding, lessons, and alone time for the two of them.
Katara watched Aang. The boy had decided to infuse his frog's leaps with airbending, so when Aang pushed down it hopped ten feet into the air. He looked surprised. Katara laughed.
"Katara." Aang looked at her. "I didn't see you there."
Katara walked in and set the bowl of fruit on the table. She looked at the books scattered about. "What are you doing?"
"Research about comets," Aang answered. "But wait. I made this for you." He picked up an origami flower and handed it to Katara.
"Well, thank you." Katara twirled the flower. "It's lovely." She kissed Aang on the cheek. "So what were you saying about comets?"
Aang motioned her to sit beside him. "Do you remember what Suki said at the North Pole about how the natural disasters started after Sozin's Comet?"
"Yes."
"Well," Aang continued, "I wondered if this was a coincidence or if there was an explanation for it. So I decided to do some research." Aang picked up a thick book and opened it to a marked page. Since the war's end, Aang had grown lazy and wanted to become proactive again. The situation with Koh stealing Katara's face had brought the issue to a head. Aang laid the book in front of Katara. "And you'd be surprised what I learned. Read this."
The book was an astronomy text written by a sister of the Eastern Air Temple. Aang had it open to an extensive article on comets. An illustration of a tailed comet filled the bottom half of the left page.
Katara read. The article stated the obvious. Like the comet came every century and was of the element fire (all astronomical bodies were classified as being fire or water). Yet, Katara's eyes widened the more she read. Comets were also called 'broom stars' as they looked like brooms and supposedly 'swept good luck aside.' Comets were harbingers of disaster for the four nations. A comet in the sky signaled future social unrest or natural disasters or political upheaval.
"So," Katara said, "all these bad things happen every time the comet passes?"
"Yeah. People used to think it was just superstition until these bad things started happening every hundred years."
"What can we do to stop it?" Katara asked.
Aang hung his head. "Since Sozin's Comet has already passed? Nothing. We can only provide relief."
"Then we'll do what we can," Katara replied as she flipped pages.
The author believed that the bad things were caused by a malevolent comet spirit. The spirit could only be dealt with when the comet was overhead. After it passed, only relief could be given. There was nothing to be done. The author also stated that the comet's effects were worse if too much of its power was used by benders. Aang knew if he had listened to Avatar Roku and defeated Ozai before Sozin's Comet passed overhead, things would not be as bad as they were. There would still be earthquakes and tsunamis and eruptions, only not as many.
"Ow." Katara suddenly gasped and clutched her head. She started breathing rapidly.
"Is it a headache?" Aang asked as he stood up. He was going to get some of the medicine the shamans at the North Pole had given him for Katara's headaches. Ever since Katara's journey into the Spirit World, she occasionally suffered headaches and could not do serious waterbending. It would tire her.
"Was," Katara said as she pulled Aang down beside her. "It's fine now."
"Are you sure?"
Katara nodded. "The shamans said that before these headaches stop for good, they'll get more intense. I'm fine."
"Do you want any medicine? I can burn some for you and--"
"I'm fine," Katara interrupted.
Aang nodded. He would have felt better if Katara had some medicine, yet she seemed sure she did not need any. Aang left the decision up to her and did not argue. Aang did not like arguing with her.
"Aang, did you read all of this?" Katara looked worried. She had been perusing the rest of the article. It went in depth about the comet's effects on each nation.
"Well, not all of it," Aang admitted. "I was kinda inspired to make this pigeon-crane." He grinned and held up the paper pigeon-crane.
"This is important." Katara pushed the book toward him, finger marking a line. "It says after the comet, the Air Temples suffer the worst disasters."
"Oh, that."
"You read it?" When Aang nodded, Katara continued. "You're not worried."
"Nothing's happened to any of the temples."
"Yet," Katara said. "It says that every time the comet passes, one of the temples is hit by a 'backlash', a massive storm. This storm is enough to destroy the entire temple!" She continued pointing.
The book said if the Northern, Southern, or Eastern Air Temples were hit by the storm, nothing would be left. The paragraph stated that the Western Air Temple was the only temple to ever avoid taking damage as it was in a canyon and not on a mountain. With no airbenders to defend it, the Western Air Temple's position is what had saved it one hundred years ago.
"And it says," Aang replied, "that there is nothing to worry about as long as there are airbending masters to deal with it. And I'm an airbending master. Don't worry. If any temple is going to be hit, I can do something about it." Aang put his hand on Katara's back. "Lately, things have felt out of control and finally I know what's going on. I can do something about it. I'm so glad to be done worrying."
"I don't know." Katara was not sure. "But if you say there's nothing to worry about, then there's nothing to worry about."
The two of them returned the books to the shelves. Aang divided and arranged his origami around the lanterns in the middle of each table. Katara remembered to pick up the paper flower. Aang and Katara left the library. Outside the tower, they ran into Teo.
"Where have you two been?" Teo looked frantic. "Can you leave now? Saddle Appa and leave today?"
"What are you talking about?" Aang asked.
"Calm down," Katara replied.
Teo took a few breaths. "Do you two remember the earthquake machine you have to deliver?"
"Of course," Katara said. "Aang and I said we'd deliver it as soon as we could."
The earthquake machine was why Katara and Aang had come to the Northern Air Temple in the first place. Fire Lord Zuko had commissioned Teo's father to build an earthquake detection device. It was to be delivered to a small Earth Kingdom village as a gesture of goodwill between the nations. Teo's father had sent to Ba Sing Se University for materials as there were not enough here.
"Deliver it as soon as you can? Then you'd better get moving," Teo said. When Aang asked for an explanation, Teo said they needed to follow him. He would explain on the way.
Teo explained. His father was not an organized man, so Teo had written his dad a to-do list a week ago. This had done Teo's father little good as he had misplaced the list. The list had been found this morning and in completing the list, Teo's father had come to sixth item: check mail. In the mail, he had found the materials shipped from Ba Sing Se and had promptly assembled them.
"It's here?!" Katara exclaimed.
"Yep," Teo replied.
The three of them were on the runway. Adults and children had gathered. Teo's father was at the center. He was talking, but his voice was lost to the wind. Teo parted the crowd.
"Hello, there," Teo's dad said cheerily. "Just packaging my most recent work."
Aang and Katara looked at the invention. It looked more like decoration than something to use against earthquakes. The device appeared to be a vase. Badger-mole heads ringed the vase, protruding from the side. Each head held a metal ball in its teeth. There was an upturned claw below each head.
"Nice vase!" a short-haired girl called. This started a string of comments.
"Isn't it great?" Teo's father seemed oblivious to the comments and Aang and Katara's puzzled expressions.
"Dad, explain how it works."
"Oh, right." The older man turned to explain. "There are a lot of convoluted complex inner workings, but I'll simplify. This device can detect tremors. If there's a tremor this device will tip causing one of these metal balls to move." He touched a badger-mole head and moved his hand to claw below. "The ball will fall into a claw. The direction from which the movement came will determine which ball falls."
"Wow," Katara said as Aang cocked his head to get a closer look. "That's good."
"Good old Earth Kingdom ingenuity," Teo replied.
Teo's father held up a finger. "Although no substitute for a good earthbender."
"Can you leave today?" Teo asked.
"We can," Katara replied. "Aang just has to get Appa ready and I'll pack."
Aang got Appa and Momo from the air bison stables and Katara went inside to pack. Along with the necessities, she remembered to pack the invitations to Toph's debutante ball. On the runway, everyone worked to get Appa ready. The luggage and the precious invention were secured on the bison's back. Aang settled himself on Appa's head and ruffled Appa's fur. Katara got on. Aang and Katara waved their goodbyes. They were almost into the air when Teo's dad called them.
"Wait!" the older man called through the wind. He pulled a book out of his apron. "This is from the library at Ba Sing Se University. Can you take it back for me?"
"Uh, okay," Aang said as he tentatively took the book.
"This must seem awfully random," Teo's father said, "but even though this is on my to-do list, I always forget. But if you take it I'm sure it'll get there!"
Aang and Katara exchanged glances. This was random. Yet, this had been a morning full of surprises. Aang shrugged. They were stopping in Ba Sing Se anyway to see Toph. So, Aang gave a 'yip yip' and Appa rose into the air. Aang and Katara were off to the Earth Kingdom.
Aang and Katara had been flying for many hours. They were still over the ocean, but Aang was sure land would be visible soon. Aang was lounging on Appa and staring up at a clear sky with a sleeping Momo curled up on his head. Katara had used some of the medicine earlier and was sleeping. Suddenly, booming sounds filled the air.
Katara was jarred awake. "What's going on?"
Aang answered through the noise. "A Water Tribe boat is being attacked!" He squinted at the boats in the distance. "It's being attacked by Earth Kingdom ships. That's not your family's boat is it?"
"They can't have made it this far already," Katara replied. "But Sokka said another boat left the North Pole a week ago."
Aang grabbed the reins and urged Appa toward the fight. Aang noticed that none of the Earth Kingdom ships flew official identification and that the men on deck were a rag-tag bunch. These were pirates. Aang grabbed his glider.
"Wait here, I'll deal with this." Katara objected, but Aang shook his head. "You're in no shape to do any serious bending. Not until you're better."
Aang spun his glider open and jumped off Appa. A fast wind took Aang down. He rode a wave until he was near the boats. The Water Tribe boat was barely afloat, although a few of the warriors with ranged weapons were putting up a fight. The ship near Aang was readying a catapult. Aang jumped on deck, moving the currents, turning the boat as the catapult was released. Its missile flew through the deck of a nearby pirate ship. As it took water, Aang froze the water, locking it in place. Aang continued with the other boats.
Katara watched from the air, useless. Suddenly, she gasped. More boats were coming and Aang did not seem to notice. She took Appa's reins. "Come on, we've got to help him." The bison growled. Shaking the reins, Katara led Appa to land on the water. The bison flapped his tail, causing a series of waves. Two ships capsized.
"What're you doing?" Aang called.
"Helping you." Katara said with a smile. "You only said no bending."
"Katara."
Aang sighed as Katara ignored him. Count on Katara to find a loop hole. Aang continued, not wanting to argue with her, although he had bad feelings about this.
Dealing with the boats was easy until a stray rock from a catapult landed near Katara. This created a massive wave that bore down on Appa. Katara reacted instinctively, forming a stance and dividing the wave around Appa. She swayed on the spot. It had been too much. Katara fell into the water, the noise catching Aang's attention.
"Katara!" Aang turned from his work. The last pirate ship had snuck up on the Water Tribe boat and Aang was dealing with it. Aang looked to the boat and to Katara. He could only help one. Aang looked between them again.
Which one?
It was obvious. Aang ran across the water. He leaped onto the bison's back and spring boarded into the water. Katara was sinking fast, so Aang used waterbending to propel himself through the water. Aang wrapped an arm around Katara. He torpedoed to the surface and laid Katara on Appa, among the cargo.
"What—what--" she said weakly.
"Don't worry," Aang stroked her cheek and leapt up, running across the water. The pirate ship was alongside the Water Tribe one. Aang jumped on the deck, ready to deal with the pirates. He stopped in shock.
In front of him were a group of pirates being held up by the warriors. The pirates had been caught trying to board. Aang thought there was something familiar about these pirates, especially the captain, an older man with a parrot and a red hat. He put it out of mind as the warriors began to talk.
"You've got a lot of nerve attacking us."
"Why were you sailing these waters?"
"Sorry about that," one of the pirates, a darker skinned man with a headband said. "Just sailing these waters, getting ready for our payday."
"What are you talking about?" a warrior asked.
"Say nothing," the caption said. The man did not seem to hear.
"From the temple," he said as the others motioned him to be quiet.
Aang narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Aang's tone prompted the pirates to talk. They admitted most of the Earth Kingdom's pirates were sailing the northern waters, looting the North Pole and sailing about while they waited until it was time to loot the Northern Air Temple. Word had spread among the pirate community that before the year's end a storm would destroy the Northern Air Temple. This storm would topple the temple into the ocean. This would allow easy access to otherwise unreachable loot. Cultural relics were always in high demand in the illegal markets and among collectors.
Aang was disgusted. He always attempted to see the best in people, but this was despicable.
"You're awful," Aang said, "attempting to profit from robbing an air temple. A temple. Where people worshipped and lived, sacred ground. And I used to like pirates." Aang paused. "And when these warriors let you go, go back to the rest of your pirate friends and tell them not to waste their time sailing these waters. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to any of the temples."
The warriors groaned and reluctantly let the pirates go. Aang asked if they say 'hello' to Katara's family for him. The warriors said they would if they ran into her family. Aang returned to Appa. Katara was feeling betters and asked what happened. Aang told her as Appa rose into the air.
"The storm is going to hit the Northern Air Temple?" Katara asked.
"Yes," Aang replied as he steered Appa onward to the Earth Kingdom. "Early winter the pirates said. But, don't worry."
"I won't. Not with you here."
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.