Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Water, earth, fire, air... Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But, when the world needed him most, he vanished.
A hundred years passed and the new Avatar, and air bender named Aang, was discovered. Now traveling by his side are Katara and Sokka of the southern water tribe, and Ashlynn: An ex-member of the Fire Nation, and Prince Zuko's lifelong companion...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"We can't afford to relax all day if we want to get to Omashu today. Hurry up with your bending guys," Sokka said as he lounged about on an oversized leaf that floated amidst the still waters. Nearby, Aang and Katara were practicing their water bending together, while Ashlynn lay out in the shallow portion of the hidden lake they'd come across.
"You're enjoying the break too, and you know it, Sokka," Ashlynn giggled as she peered over at him through one open eye. He frowned at her, shook his head, and said nothing.
As Katara taught Aang a new technique, an instrument suddenly sounded quietly from an area nearby the lake. Sokka sat up from his floating 'chair' to see what was to be seen. Ashlynn sat up as well, and Katara and Aang halted their bending for the moment.
A small group of travelers approached them on the trail leading up to the lake. Each had their own instrument that they merrily played as they walked along. When they noticed Aang and his companions, they halted.
"Hey look, river people!" the man at the head of the party stated almost enthusiastically. Katara stared at him quizzically for a moment before correcting him, making it known they were just ordinary people making their way through the world.
"Who are you?" Sokka demanded, his emotions filling with disbelief. "I'm Chong. This is my wife Lily," the man pointed to a woman who stood beside him. "We're nomads," he said happily.
"You're nomads? I'm a nomad too!" Aang said with a growing smile.
Ashlynn stood up from her resting spot to join the conversation. "Why don't you guys join us for a little while?" Ashlynn suggested in an attempt to be polite. Sokka spun around to give her a glare, making it obvious that the last thing he wanted was to be stuck with the band of traveling nomads. She shrugged back at him.
"Sounds fun," Chong replied. Sokka twitched momentarily, and stomped back towards his oversized leaf.
"Oh my- What sort of beast is that?" the woman, Lily, questioned as soon as she saw Appa. "Oh, that's Appa. He's my flying bison!" Aang responded cheerfully. "He'd look beautiful with some braids," Lily spoke absent-mindedly, and then trotted over to Appa. She sat down next to him, and instantly began fumbling with his fur. Appa responded with a small, loving snort.
"Hey kids, want to hear some tales?" Chong asked as he sat down next to Appa. "Sure!" Aang said, and sat down next to him. Ashlynn, Katara, and the remainder of the nomads joined them. Sokka lounged by himself out in the center of the lake.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Sokka, you should hear some of the stories these guys have been telling. They've been everywhere," Aang grinned, and looked over his shoulder at Sokka. Sokka responded with thumbs up, but didn't even bother to look their way.
"Well. We haven't been everywhere... But everywhere we haven't been we've heard about through stories and songs," Chong said, and struck a single cord on his sitar for emphasis.
"He said he'd take us to see a giant night crawler!" Aang said to Sokka excitedly. Then, Sokka finally looked over at the group, clearly having had spent his last nerve.
"Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news and all, but we don't have time to go sight-seeing. We need to get to Omashu... As soon as possible!" he argued bitterly.
"Yeah, Sokka's right. We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn Earth Bending somewhere safe," Katara said, reluctantly backing her brother up. Chong perked up at this, and said "Well sounds like you're headed to Omashu!"
Ashlynn raised one eyebrow in confusion, and glanced over at Sokka just in time to see him strike his forehead with his palm in utter frustration. Chong lifted his instrument once again, and proceeded to continue with his conversation.
"There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains," he told the group while striking another single cord. "Is it a real pass, or is it just a story?" Katara asked doubtfully.
"It's real alright... It's as old as Earth Bending himself," Chong said, and then burst into a song about two lovers and their secret tunnel that ran through the mountain. Ashlynn couldn't help but laugh at Sokka's growing irritation with the odd band of nomads.
"We should just stick with flying," Sokka said after Chong finished his song. "I don't know Sokka... There's fire nation everywhere. It'd be safer to go underground," Ashlynn protested. She wasn't too thrilled to travel with the nomads all that way, but she didn't want to risk her life being in the air, either.
"But Appa hates going underground," Aang argued. "He'd be more uncomfortable having fire shot at him, I'd think," Katara fought. Aang pondered this for a moment, and then sighed. "Fine, let's go through the tunnel," he said reluctantly. Sokka looked as though he'd rip his own hair out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite Sokka's protests, the nomads proceeded to guide the group towards the 'Cave of Two Lovers'. As they did this, Sokka questioned more and more about this mysterious tunnel. Chong responded by telling him that it was a maze of tunnels, that beheld a curse. If the group did not trust in love, they'd be lost in the caverns forever.
As Sokka heard this, he grew more and more anxious, and more and more irritated. When they approached the entrance, Sokka finally put his foot down. "There's no way we're going through a maze of cursed tunnels. Come on Aang, let's go."
One of the other nomads, Moku, pointed out a pillar of smoke in this distance. Katara looked out at it, and recognized it as a Fire Nation signal. "Sokka, we have to. The Fire Nation is tracking us, we can't go back now," she said.
"All we have to do is trust in love, right?" Aang asked Chong. Chong nodded in response. "Alright... we can do this," he grinned.
Then, Aang and his companions, and Chong and his group of nomads entered the beginning tunnel. The entrance to the tunnel provided them with enough sunlight to make it through the first number of steps- At least, until a massive rumbling in the Earth emitted from the entrance.
Ashlynn and Katara gasped in surprise as the caverns shook, and suddenly the entrance caved in from behind them, cutting off all sunlight to them. "Clearly, the Fire Nation discovered us. They're making an attempt to let nature's course kill us off," Ashlynn said to her companions, whom she couldn't see anymore.
Suddenly, a single torch lit up amidst them. Chong, who was more prepared then the rest, had brought a few torches with him, and had lit one to aid them in their journey through the tunnels. "Excellent, at least we have some form of light. I'm going to make a map so we can track where we've been. That way we can solve it like the maze that it is, and get out of here safely," Sokka said as he pulled some parchment from a bag that rested atop of Appa.
Then, he began to lead the group through the main tunnel they stood in now, while making a marking of their direction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sokka... This must be the tenth dead end you've led us to," Katara sighed as they approached yet another wall at the end of another tunnel. "No, this can't be right. We've already come through this way," Sokka complained, and stared down at his self-made map.
"We don't need a map... just love..." Chong said, almost sadly.
"Maybe, but a map is more helpful to us... There's only one explanation. The tunnels are changing," Sokka declared after examining the walls around him. Just as he spoke what he determined to be the cause, another rumbling in the earth was heard, indicating that the tunnels they were traveling through were indeed subject to hastened change.
"It must be the curse... We shouldn't have come down here," Chong said, officially starting to lose his nerve. "Everyone, be quiet. Listen," Ashlynn said, detecting a faint sound within the heart of the tunnel that lay before them. Everyone listened for a moment, and confirmed they heard what sounded like a beast-like shriek emitting from the depths of the mountain. Everyone stared into the darkness in front of them, and waited for a moment.
Katara and Ashlynn shrieked in unison as an oversized bat flew in from the dark tunnel before them. It flew right over Sokka's head, who was holding one of the few torches they had. It charged right at Aang, who quickly dodged it. Ashlynn was quick to send a gust of air in its direction. The wind struck the creature in the gut, and it landed upon the floor. Moku recognized the creature as a wolf-bat.
When the wolf-bat had recovered from Ashlynn's attempt to knock it out, it flew up above them again, and dove down at Sokka, who was still holding the torch. Sokka waved his torch back and forth at the beast, but eventually lost his gripping on it. It slipped from his hand, and soared over to Appa, striking him in one of his paws.
Appa, distraught from having been burnt, began to trample about the narrow caves. The wolf-bat then retreated back into the darkness, not wanting to fight something that was Appa's size. Appa blindly charged after it, and ran into some of the walls surrounding them as he did so. Running into the walls upset the oversized beast even more, and he took up running into the walls out of pure rage.
The walls about them began to shake. "Appa, stop it!" Ashlynn cried out over the beasts roars of anger. Ashlynn looked up at the ceiling and saw that the cave was beginning to crumble. She looked at Aang, who nodded at her, agreeing with her mental suggestion of what the two should do. At the same time, they each produced an air-shield about the group. Ashlynn's shield covered everyone, save Aang and Katara, while Aang's shield covered him, Appa and Katara.
The rocks crumbled between the two groups, cutting Aang, Appa, and Katara off from the rest, but assuring their safety. When the rocks finished crumbling, Ashlynn dropped the shield and ran to the wall that now separated three of her companions from her.
She and Sokka, together, began digging at the rock walls before them. "It's no use, the wall is too thick. We've been separated from them," Chong told them, hoping to make them stop their determined digging. Ashlynn sighed, and ceased to dig. "If only we had an earth bender..." she murmured sadly. Sokka stopped digging as well.
"Come on, we can't give up now. If we continue on our way, we'll come across them eventually. Let's go," Ashlynn said, attempting to muster up enough courage to get Sokka to move along with the nomads. She glared at her, stood up, and reluctantly nodded. Together, the two followed the companions down into the tunnel ahead of them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is just another dead end," the nomad Moku said as Sokka halted in front of another wall of the caverns. "I'm just trying to get us out of here. I'm the only one that's coming up with ideas, and I'm the only one that's trying," Sokka fumed as he spun around to rage at Moku. Ashlynn put a comforting hand on Sokka's shoulder in an attempt to keep him calm.
"We're thinking of ideas? Cause I've had one for the past hour," Chong said blandly. "Yes! We're all thinking of ideas!" Sokka screamed at him. "Sokka..." Ashlynn murmured, and shook her head with disapproval at his lack of control.
"Well, if love is the key out of here... We can just play a love song!" Chong said, and almost immediately burst into a song about love. His band of nomads did the same.
Sokka let out one more scream of rage, and then went to sit in the corner furthest from the group. He laid his torch down next to him, and brought him legs up to his chest. He rested his arms upon his knees, and his head upon his arms, and then remained entirely silent.
Ashlynn stared over at him for a moment, then released a frustrated sigh and went to join him. "You okay?" she asked as she sat down next to him. He grunted in response. "Look... Things aren't totally hopeless," Ashlynn told him, hoping to make him feel better.
"Yes, they are. We're separated from Aang and Katara; we're stuck with this band of crazies who don't know anything... We could die in here, Ash. I'm out of ideas. There's something in these tunnels that's keeping us from getting out," he finished sadly.
"Let's say for one moment that the only way to get out of here is through love," Ashlynn started. "These guys have been singing about love for a while now, and nothing's happened," Sokka reminded her. "I'm aware of it. Maybe nothing has happened because you don't believe that that's the way out of here. Think, just for a moment, just believe that love is the way," Ashlynn said, and put a hand upon his arm.
"How am I supposed to express belief in love?" Sokka asked, and lifted his head up from its resting position and turned to look at Ashlynn. "How do lovers express love?" Ashlynn pondered aloud, waiting for her idea to click in Sokka's mind. She turned to look away from him, blushing madly.
"You mean...?" Sokka stammered, finally understanding what Ashlynn was thinking. Ashlynn looked back at him, and nodded hesitantly. Sokka merely stared back at her as though she'd lost her mind entirely. "Okay, I get it... It was a dumb idea but it's the last one I got. I---" Ashlynn began, before Sokka interrupted her.
Ashlynn was a little startled as Sokka leaned over to her and placed one soft kiss upon her lips. She hardly reacted before another rumbling in the tunnels began, forcing him to break their momentary contact. "Sounds like your idea made something in the tunnels even angrier," Sokka said, and stood up. Ashlynn looked up at him, still blushing, and waited for him to do something. Without looking back down at her, he walked back over to the nomads.
Ashlynn followed him, but halted at the walls around them burst as enormous creatures pummeled through them.
"Badger moles," Moku exclaimed.
The two creatures that sat blocking either exit were in fact badger moles. They appeared menacing, as though they'd strike down each member for having ever dared set foot into their tunnels. "Hey look, badger moles!" Chong said merrily, having just realized what now surrounded him.
"Badger moles are earth benders. Maybe they can get us out of here," Ashlynn suggested to the group. Chong struck a single note on his instrument, and instantly the badger moles dropped any threatening disposition they held. "Hey, they like the music! Play more!" Sokka said, and Chong and his companions began to play a song for the badger moles.
As they did so, Ashlynn circle around to the flank of one and put a single hand on its hind leg. It turned around to look at her, or rather sense her presence, since it was entirely blind. However, it made no attempt to rid itself of her touch, and even welcomed her company. Ashlynn then began to climb upon it, which it allowed her to do without any hesitation.
"Sokka, come on!" Ashlynn said. Sokka grinned up at her, and climbed up on top the badger mole. Both mounted it as though it were a horse; Sokka behind Ashlynn with his arms about her waist. Ashlynn grasped the fur of the badger mole, and instructed Chong and his friends to climb upon the other one. They did so, and instantly the badger moles began to earth bend their way through the tunnels.
"My idea worked after all. These badger moles came to rescue us! We should have tried it a lot sooner," Ashlynn said over her shoulder at Sokka. "Hey, it could just be coincidence," Sokka responded teasingly.
Before Ashlynn could respond to him, the badger mole they rode burst through one final wall, and brought them into the blinding sunlight. Ashlynn covered her face with one hand to keep the sun from blinding her too much.
"Sokka, Ashlynn!" came Katara's voice. Ashlynn allowed her eyes to adjust, and then peered down below her and saw Katara, Aang, and Appa. Ashlynn and Sokka jumped off of their form of transportation and greeted their missing companions.
"How did you guys get out?" Sokka asked. "We trusted in love, like the legend said. As soon as we did that, the ceiling lit up with crystals that showed us the way out," Katara explained enthusiastically.
Ashlynn and Sokka gave one another nervous glances. That hadn't happened to them, so the badger moles had indeed been a coincidence. "Oh... Uh, we just let these furry guys lead us out. Yep," Sokka said while blushing slightly.
"Sounds neat- Well, now that we're all together again, we should get going," Katara exclaimed. "Thanks for every, Chong, and everyone else," Aang said as Chong and his companions leapt off their badger mole and moved towards them to say their goodbyes.
"No- thank YOU Master Arrowhead. We'll play songs about you guys, promise," Chong said. He shook Aang's hand, and then walked off down the mountain with his friends.
"Come on, let's get on Appa and go to Omashu," Ashlynn said, and air bended herself up on top of the flying bison. Appa welcomed her company, and for a moment he reminded her of the friendly badger mole she'd had the chance to meet. Sokka followed up behind her, and they exchanged another awkward glance. Aang and Katara followed him, and then Appa and Momo flew up together towards the top of the mountain.
"Finally, Omashu... Here we come!" Sokka said excitedly as Appa rose up over the mountain.
However, the grand, earthly city of Omashu was not what greeted them. Rather, it was the daunting symbol of the fire nation the hung from each corner of the ancient city. The fire nation had finally overrun King Bumi's town.
"Oh no..." Ashlynn whispered, realizing that there was a lot more in store for her and her companions.