Chapter 2: The Warrior of Kyoshi

On their way north Aang and Katara stopped at an island with a large bay. Aang wanted to ride the elephant koi, and so he did. Katara enjoyed the show, encouraging Aang to keep riding. Aang's fun caused the fish to behave unnaturally, and the odd behavior summoned a bigger fish. Aang fell off the koi just in time to a massive fin rise out of the water. He swam as fast as he could back to shore, getting out of the bigger fish's reach.

"What was that?" Katara asked.

"I have no idea," Aang answered. "We should get going."

Suddenly several women in armored dresses ambushed Katara and Aang. They were captured faster than they could react, and then carried to a village on the island. Then they were tied to a large wood post, and the village elder asked them who they were.

"I'm sorry we came here," Aang said. "I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?" The elder asked. "Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way."

"This island is named for Kyoshi?" Aang asked. "I know Kyoshi."

The elder laughed. "How could you possible know her?" he asked. "Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."

Aang decided it was time to reveal who he really was to the elder. "I know her because I'm the Avatar."

"That's impossible," the lead warrior said. "The last Avatar was an airbender that disappeared a hundred years ago."

"That's me," Aang said. Then he took a deep breath and blew, creating a large wind. The elder and the warriors were amazed at seeing airbending for the first time. A villager nearby appeared to have a spasm, started foaming from the mouth, and then collapsed.

The warriors freed Aang and Katara, apologized for the misunderstanding, and then treated them as guests in their village. Word of the Avatar's return spread across the island like wildfire, and the villagers were excited to hear it. Some of the villagers started to clean and repaint the statue of Avatar Kyoshi.

Aang spent the rest of the day reveling in the attention of being the Avatar. He was constantly chased by the local girls, to the extent that he couldn't stay in one place for more than five minutes. The local shopkeepers let Aang take whatever supplies he would need for his journey. Katara didn't like how the attention was going to Aang's head, and refused to watch him attempt to ride the Unagi the next day.

Katara spent her time gathering supplies for their trip. When she was finished Katara asked the village elder if she could borrow a messenger bird. The elder agreed and Katara started writing a letter to Sokka. In the letter she wrote how Sokka was missing out on traveling with the Avatar, and that she met some real warriors along the way. She was already starting to miss Sokka, and jokingly suggested that he stow away on a Fire Nation ship to catch up with her.

When Aang tried to ride the Unagi the sea serpent didn't show up. The girls that had obsessed over him got bored and walked away. Aang was disappointed until Katara showed up, her conscience getting the better of her. Aang admitted that he let the attention get to his head, and then started to swim back to the shore. But as he swam the Unagi finally showed up to attack.

Aang ended up on the Unagi's back, and then the serpent sprayed water at Aang. Then it tried to bite Aang, forcing him to jump and grab onto one of the Unagi's feelers. It thrashed around in the water, throwing Aang off. Katara jumped into the water and swam towards Aang, reaching him just when the Unagi was about to strike. She used waterbending to propel herself and Aang away from the Unagi and back to shore.

Back on dry land Katara had to remove water from Aang's throat with waterbending. Then Aang weakly said "Don't ride the Unagi, not fun."

"I could have told you that," Katara said. Then she picked up Aang and brought him back to the village to recover. The elder was concerned about Aang's reckless behavior, and decided to talk with the warriors in private.

Katara let Aang rest in the village, then started packing their supplies on Appa. She was starting to feel like she and Aang had overstayed their welcome and should leave as soon as possible. Her plan was to leave in the morning after a good night's sleep. As Katara walked to a guest room one of the Kyoshi Warriors bumped into her in the hallway.

"Are you leaving already?" the warrior asked.

"Tomorrow," Katara answered. "We have a long journey to make."

"I see," the warrior said. "And it's just you and Aang?"

"Pretty much," Katara said. "Hey I never caught your name."

"Suki," she said. "Well goodnight then."

The next morning Aang felt good as new, and was ready to leave with Katara. They brought Appa into the village for a farewell. The strange villager from earlier had another seizure with foaming mouth and fainted. The village elder wished them good luck, and Appa was about to take off when Suki ran up to the bison.

"I'm coming too," Suki said.

"Really?" Aang asked.

"Why?" Katara asked.

"Two kids on their own fighting against the Fire Nation," Suki said. "You may be the Avatar, but you need more help than that."

"Okay," Aang said. "The more the merrier."

Suki climbed aboard Appa and then the bison took off. After waiting for Suki to get accustomed to flying Aang laid out his map and showed Suki where he wanted to go next. He wanted to head for Omashu, where his old friend Bumi used to live. Aang planned to just have Appa fly straight there over the ocean in the way.

"Um Aang, that route takes us into an area patrolled by the Fire Nation," Suki said.

"How do you know that?" Katara asked.

"Kyoshi Island may have stayed out of the war, but that doesn't mean we aren't ignorant of it," Suki explained. "We keep an eye on what's happening nearby."

"So is there a safer way to reach Omashu?" Aang asked.

"We should be alright if we fly just a few miles inland from the coast," Suki said. "It will take us near the Foggy Swamp, but that shouldn't be a problem in the air."

"Is the Foggy Swamp dangerous?" Katara asked.

"Well you're guaranteed to get lost in there," Suki explained. "But since we're flying we'll be fine."

A large Fire Nation ship was passing through the waters between Kyoshi Island and Chin Village. One of the officers aboard spotted a flying bison moving towards the continent, and informed his superior. Commander Zhao observed the bison through a spyglass, and wrote down his location and the direction the bison was travelling. The bison was heading inland, outside his jurisdiction as a Naval Commander. Zhao didn't like it, but he had to inform the Army General of this sighting. She was scheduled to lay siege to Omashu, but the Avatar was more important than taking the mad king's city.