A/N: If you haven't noticed, this fic updated but still only has 5 chapters. Why? Well, after reading the first chapter (and looking at viewer statistics), I feel like it's not necessary for the series. It doesn't add anything, it's distanced from the main part of the story, and it's written pretty poorly, not to mention it seems to be weeding out half of the people who view this story. As a result, I have deleted chapter 1 and reworked chapter 2 (now 1) slightly so it works as the first chapter. I am unsure of whether that chapter will still be canon to this story anymore, though it probably won't.
Chapter 5: Bato of the Water Tribe
"So, why are we going through this forest when we have an air bison that will just carry us to the north pole?"
"It's a lot of work carrying four people, Rin. Appa needs his breaks."
The group was walking through the forest, following Aang as he raced ahead of everyone else. They were heading in the direction of the north pole - not that it mattered, as most of their distance came from Appa, who was apparently too tired to fly right now. As they marched on through the trees, Rin felt a cool breeze flow over her cheeks.
"I think we're close to the ocean," Rin observed as Aang jumped down a small ledge up ahead. He bent down and picked up what seemed to be a curved sword. The handle was blue, and the blade was chipped and jagged.
"Look! A sword made out of a whales tooth!" Aang exclaimed, holding it up in front of the rest of the group.
"Let me see that," Sokka said, grabbing the sword from Aang and turning it over in his palm, observing it for a few seconds.
"This is a water tribe weapon. Search around and see if there's anything else," Sokka ordered. Aang started rummaging through bushes, while Sokka searched the ground, eventually finding a stone-tipped arrow under a small pile of leaves.
"It's burnt," Sokka muttered. He ran over to a damaged tree off to the side and moved his hand over it, feeling the scorch marks and cuts in the bark. "There was a battle. Water tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders and drove them down this hill."
Sokka took off down the hill, with the rest of the group following behind him. They reached a beach, where Sokka stopped and stood still.
"So, then what happened?" Rin asked.
"I don't know," Sokka answered, looking down into the sand.
"Hey, look!" Katara shouted, pointing down the beach. The group turned and saw a wooden sailboat sitting on the beach, tied to a large rock next to it. Sokka and Katara ran over to the boat, with Aang and Rin following behind them.
"Is this dad's boat?" Katara asked.
"No, but it's from his fleet," Sokka replied. "He was here."
"Wait, who's your dad? Rin asked, running up next to the two siblings.
"He's chief of the Southern Water Tribe. A few years ago, he left in order to help against the Fire Nation. This is a boat from his fleet," Sokka explained. Aang flew up to the deck and looked around.
"It's deserted, but there's still plenty of stuff here," Aang called down to the group before going down below the deck of the ship.
"We should camp here for the night," Rin suggested. "It's getting dark. I'll go collect some firewood."
"Are you sure? The tide might come in," Sokka asked.
"Eh, just sleep on the ship or something," Rin said, heading back into the forest. She took her hatchet out of her bag then, after a moment of consideration, threw it back in. Most of the trees in this forest were still living, and whatever branches she chopped down would be hard to burn. Instead, she started picking up dead sticks from the ground, congregating them into a pile in her arms. Eventually, as the sun started setting, Rin returned to the beach with her arms full of firewood to see the rest of the group sitting around the boat.
"So, anything happen while I was gone?" Rin asked.
"Katara and I caught some fish for dinner," Sokka said, holding up a few fish by the tail.
"Great. Let me set up the fire, and we'll start cooking," Rin replied, laying down the firewood. She arranged the wood into a teepee shape and shoved a pile of dry leaves into the middle of the formation. Then, she took a pair of spark rocks from her bag, lighting the leaves in the middle of the wood. Soon, a flame was burning happily in the middle of the beach, surrounded by skewered fish.
"Uh... I don't eat meat, remember?" Aang reminded the group, causing Rin to facepalm for the second time that day.
"Errgh... go find something in the woods, there's a lot of plants there," Rin grumbled. Unfortunately, the sun had already set, and the woods were too dark to enter without getting lost. As they sat around the fire, Sokka turned the whale tooth sword over and over in his hand, looking over the blade.
"Hey, if you already have your club, can I have that sword?" Rin asked as Sokka furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Wait, don't you have a weapon already? You threw a couple of knives at us back at the canyon, remember?" Sokka asked.
"Those were just some knives I had at the time. I actually have no idea how to properly throw a knife, and even if I did, your Avatar there blew most of mine down the canyon," Rin explained, pointing towards Aang. "I actually want to sell the sword, it'll get us quite a bit of money."
"What? You can't do that, this sword is part of my tribe! It was hand crafted by one of the warriors from our fleet! You can't just go and sell it!" Sokka protested, holding the sword away from Rin.
"That's exactly why I want to sell it." Rin said. "A hand crafted water tribe sword, made by a great warrior? It'll get a lot of money on the market. Besides, seeing that nobody picked the sword up after the battle, I don't think the owner's alive for us to return it to. Iit would be better to put it to some use rather than leave it laying around."
"Then why don't you use it, if you don't have a weapon?" Sokka asked.
"What? When did I say that?" Rin asked back, pulling out her hatchet and waving it in front of Sokka.
"That thing? Were you a woodcutter before you joined us?" Sokka asked, before leaning forward to observe the hatchet closely. The handle was made of lightly colored polished wood, and was slightly shorter than Rin's arm. The blade was made out of steel, with the body of the blade painted red while the end remained a gleaming silver. The hatchet had a few scratches on the blade but otherwise, it was in good condition.
"No, I just happened to pick it up a while back. It's light, sturdy, and it's useful both as a tool and a weapon," Rin explained.
"Let me see that," Katara demanded, grabbing the hatchet and flipping it over, before inspecting the bottom of the handle. Her eyes widened, and she turned to Rin, this time with a stern look on her face.
"Explain this," Katara asked, pointing to the bottom of the hatchet. Stamped into the wood was the insignia of the Fire Nation, in dark red ink. All eyes immediately turned to Rin.
"Look, it's not what you thi-"
"Then what is it?!" Katara shouted.
"Woah, you wanted me to explain, and I'll explain," Rin said. "I stayed on a Fire Nation ship for a few weeks. That's where I got the hatchet."
"So you were allies with the fire nation!" Katara exclaimed.
"Could you stop assuming the worst of me?!" Rin shouted back, before taking a deep breath and continuing her story. "Anyways, I was hired to work on a small Fire Nation cruiser, mostly as a cabin girl, doing cleaning and stuff like that. I picked up the hatchet on the way out. It's not like I actually fought for the Fire Nation or anything like that."
"But why work for the Fire Nation in the first place?" Sokka asked.
"Because it was the best job I could find at the time," Rin explained. "The pay was decent, and since I was technically part of the crew, I got meals with everyone else."
"So you worked for the Fire Nation just because they paid you well? That's shallow," Katara remarked.
"Hey, it's better to look after yourself before you look after the world," Rin said.
"So why'd you leave then?" Sokka asked.
"It wasn't all good, you know? Pay cuts, bad food, boredom, stuff like that. Not to mention that I was the only person who wasn't from the Fire Nation, and the only girl, so there were obviously problems between me and the crew. Eventually, I decided to quit, and I took this hatchet with me," Rin explained.
"You mean you stole it," Katara muttered.
"Hey, I thought you didn't like the Fire Nation," Rin said. "Stealing from them would be fine, right?"
At that moment, Rin heard a footstep in the sand, far down the beach. She whirled around, trying to find the source of the sound. "Who's there?" Sokka shouted into the darkness, having heard the sound as well. The two stood up and drew their weapons but, as the stranger walked into the firelight, Rin saw that he was unarmed, with tanned skin and a light-blue tunic.
"Sokka?" the stranger asked in surprise, causing the boy's face to light up.
"Bato?" The two water tribe siblings asked back, before running up to the man and hugging him. Rin stood back by the fire, watching them.
"Sokka, Katara! It's so good to see you two! You've grown so much," the man exclaimed, hugging them back. Aang walked up behind the water tribe siblings, bowing towards the man.
"Hi, I'm Aan-"
"Is dad here?" Sokka asked, cutting off Aang's greeting.
"No, his fleet should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now," the man explained. A cold wind blew across the beach, causing everyone to shiver.
"This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside," the man said before he turned around and walked down the beach with Katara and Sokka. After a moment, he looked back and motioned for Aang and Rin to come with them. Aang started walking behind them, but Rin looked back towards the fire and the ship and sighed.
At least break down camp first, Rin thought, taking the still-cooking fish from the flame and throwing sand onto the fire, smothering it until only a few embers were left. After making sure that they hadn't left anything behind, she ran back to catch up with the rest of the group.
After a few minutes of walking in the cold, Bato led them into an abbey, where nuns were milling around in a large courtyard.
"After I was wounded during a battle, your father carried me here," he explained. "The sisters have cared for me ever since."
Rin looked around the courtyard, noticing that there were many large clay pots scattered around the place. A well was sitting to the side, which meant that the pots probably weren't for water. So that means there might be something valuable within those pots...
"Superior!" Bato called to one of the nuns, breaking Rin's thoughts. "These are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with a few friends, including the Avatar. I found them at my boat."
"Young Avatar, it gives me a great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey," the nun said, bowing to Aang, who bowed back.
"It's an honor to be here. If there's anything I-"
"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka asked, cutting Aang off once again.
"The sisters craft ointments and perfume," Bato explained.
I guess I could take some of that, maybe put it in a small bottle or something... Rin thought, looking around at the pots of perfume. Should be worth some money.
"Perfume? Maybe we can dump some on Appa, since he smells bad. Am I right?" Sokka suggested. An awkward silence ensued, and Rin had to hold herself back from facepalming at Sokka's attempted joke.
"You have your father's wit," Bato said, completely deadpan. He led the group into a firelit room, with a pot cooking over the flame and animal pelts scattered around the floor.
"It looks just like home!" Katara exclaimed.
"Nothing says home like dead animal pelts," Rin heard Aang mutter. As they sat down, Bato lifted the lid from the pot, revealing a steaming vat of stew cooking inside the pot.
"Stewed sea prunes!" Katara exclaimed in delight.
"Dad could eat a barrel of these," Sokka said as Bato gave him a bowl of stew, doing the same with Katara, Aang, and Rin. Aang sniffed the stew and drew his head back in disgust, while Rin scarfed down the entire bowl in a few seconds.
"Can I get some more?" Rin asked, holding out her bowl.
"Of course. It's nice to see someone outside of the tribe enjoy our cooking," Bato said, filling Rin's bowl and handing it back to her. She immediately started eating again, albeit with less speed.
"How can you stand the taste?" Aang whispered to Rin.
"It's a free meal, Avatar. You don't get them often, and when you do, you shouldn't care about the quality. Never look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth," Rin explained, finishing her second bowl of stewed sea prunes. She put her empty bowl down and stood up, stretching towards the ceiling.
"I'll be out for a bit," Rin told the group, exiting the room and walking through the courtyard, making her way into the forest and towards the beach.
With a grunt, Rin pulled herself onto the ship, climbing over the railing and into the boat. There, in the middle of the deck, Rin noticed a hatch illuminated by the moonlight, still open from Aang's exploration of the boat. She climbed down into the hull of the ship, where it was completely dark.
Maybe I could light a torch? Rin thought, before realizing that the boat was made completely out of wood. One mistake with fire would cause the ship to turn into a giant, burning coffin. Deciding not to rely on her sense of sight, she felt around with her hands, sweeping the shelves of the ship until she found something. When one of her hands hit something and caused a clinking noise, she grinned. She could recognize that noise anywhere. It was the sound of money.
There we go, Rin thought, taking what seemed to be a bag of coins and throwing it into her bag. She searched further down the hull, but found nothing else other than a few bundles of fruit and meat jerky which she threw into her bag, and a bunch of large barrels that she obviously couldn't carry. Just before she pulled herself back onto the deck she stopped, hearing the hooves of an ostrich horse outside of the ship.
"I'm looking for Bato of the Water Tribe," an unknown voice said.
"Uh, I know Bato!" Rin heard Aang reply.
"Make sure he gets this," the unknown voice ordered. Rin heard the rustling of paper, followed by the retreating hoofbeats of the ostrich horse. As she pulled herself up, she saw Aang facing away, stuffing something into his robes.
"What are you doing here?" Rin asked, causing Aang to jump and turn around.
"Uh, nothing!" Aang replied, startled by Rin's sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"
"Eh, just taking some stuff from the ship. It isn't as loaded as you said it was earlier, you know?" Rin explained as she climbed up onto the deck.
"Wait, were you stealing from the boat?" Aang asked, pointing accusingly towards the hatch Rin had climbed out from. "That's not your stuff!"
"Well, the guy's not guarding his own ship, so it's fair game for anyone who comes across it," Rin argued, jumping down to the beach. "That includes myself."
"But..."
"Listen, we're still low on money and food. We need this to make it to the north pole, preferably without starving," Rin explained.
"I'm sure that the sisters will give us supplies if we just ask. I'm the Avatar, remember?" Aang said.
"Fine," Rin sighed, taking the stolen items and throwing them to Aang, but not before pocketing the money she picked up from the ship. "But if they don't give us anything, I'm coming back here. It's for the good of the group, you know?"
"We can get along fine without you stealing," Aang muttered before dropping below deck to replace the items Rin had stolen.
"I'm heading back to the abbey now," Rin called to Aang. "Oh, some guy asked you to bring something to that water tribe person, right? I can get it to him once I get back."
"Uh... what are you talking about? What guy?" Aang asked, chuckling nervously.
"I'm not deaf. I heard someone talking to you while I was in the ship," Rin explained.
"Are you sure? Because I didn't see anybody," Aang said, rubbing his head nervously.
"Errgh... never mind," Rin groaned, turning around and walking back down the beach and towards the abbey. Aang didn't seem to be willing to give up whatever the man gave him, and Rin didn't really care anyways. All she wanted to do was go to sleep. The past two days had taken a lot out of her.
It was the morning after their meeting with Bato, and the water tribe man had gone back to visit the boat along with the group.
"This ship is sentimental to me. It was build by my father," Bato explained. He went about with the history of the boat, but Rin barely paid attention to the man. Instead she observed Aang, who had just blown away a set of ostrich horse tracks from the beach. Looking back at the rest of the group, Rin found that she was the only one who noticed Aang's odd behavior.
Probably something to do with last night, Rin thought, tuning out the conversation between Bato and Sokka. Katara still glared at Rin suspiciously from time to time, but she had gotten used to it. Hopefully, she'll come to trust me. I can't say I made a very good first impression.
"Hey, what's ice dodging?" Aang asked Bato, dropping into the conversation.
"It's a rite of passage for young boys in our tribe. When you turn fourteen, your dad takes you-" Bato explained before stopping and placing his hand on Sokka's shoulder. "You know what? You're about to find out. Onto the ship, everyone!"
After a few minutes, the group was out sailing near the shore. It was a fairly windy day, allowing the sailboat to maintain a steady speed through the water. While Sokka and Katara helped maintain the boat, Bato explained ice dodging to Rin and Aang.
"Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, courage, and trust," he explained. "In our village, ice dodging involves sailing a boat through a field of icebergs."
"So we're going to be doing ice dodging without any ice?" Rin asked. "How does that work?"
"You'll be dodging those," Bato answered, pointing to a large maze of rocks jutting up from the water next to the shore. The water seemed to rush around the rocks, causing anything unlucky enough to be nearby to crash against the boulders.
"Is it too late to back out of this?" Rin asked. "I don't want to die."
"Relax, you'll be fine," Sokka said, but he too looked nervously at the rocks. In fact, the only one who seemed to be calm was Bato.
"Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Lead wisely," the man said, directing him to the back of the boat.
"Katara, you secure the main sail. The winds can be harsh, so you must be brave," he continued as Katara grabbed the rope connecting to the largest sail on the boat.
"Aang, you control the jib. Without your steady hand, we all go down. Your position is about trust," Bato finished, directing Aang to the sail in the back.
"Trust? Why wouldn't I know about trust? I'm the Avatar, I know all about trust!" Aang said, crossing his arms for a few seconds before taking his position at the jib. Rin noticed that Bato hadn't given her a job, and she didn't want to leave her fate to three people who she had only known for two days, even if one was the Avatar.
"Hey, what do I do?" Rin asked. Bato rubbed his chin for a few seconds, staring off into the ocean, before coming up with something.
"I assume one who uses an air bison to travel would not be experienced with a ship," Bato said. "You will help Aang with the jib."
"So, she's just piggybacking onto Aang's job?" Katara asked as Bato responded with a nod. Rin and Aang grabbed onto the rope to the jib, watching the rocks grow closer.
"Because this is your rite of passage, I cannot help," Bato said, sitting down on the opposite end of the boat. "You will pass or fail on your own."
As the boat neared the rocks, Rin tightly onto the railing, not wanting to be knocked off when the ceremony began. Sokka immediately started calling out commands to the rest of the group. "Aang, Rin, ease up on the jib. Katara, stay there." The group passed by the first set of rocks with relative ease, but were faced by a much more intimidating field of rocks up ahead. Sokka started directing them towards a narrow path in between two tall boulders. "Aang, loosen up on the sail! Katara, give him room! Aang, helm to lee! HELM TO LEE!"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Aang shouted back to Sokka.
"He means pull back!" Rin shouted, lightly kicking Aang's shin to get his attention. "Pull back towards the center of the boat!"
As the two pulled back onto the sail, the ship turned it time to narrowly avoid crashing with a giant rock. The group cheered for a moment, before seeing a low wall of rocks directly up ahead.
"There's no way through!" Katara shouted. However, Sokka showed no intentions of stopping the boat.
"Sokka, you've already proven yourself," Bato called from the front of the ship. "There's no need to-"
"We can do it!" Sokka interrupted. "Aang, I'm going to need air in the sails. Katara, bend as much water as you can between us and the rocks. Rin, hold down the jib so we don't stray off course."
The group scrambled to follow Sokka's orders as Katara and Aang started bending their respective elements. Rin held on tight to the jib, which was being assaulted by blasts of air from Aang in an attempt to speed up the ship. After a few seconds, she felt the ship rise, followed by a mighty crash as the boat descended into the calm waters past the rocks.
"I'm glad that's over," Rin muttered as everybody breathed a sigh of relief.
After the group made it back to the beach, Bato ordered them to stand in a line. He went into the boat and got out a bowl of what seemed to be a thick, dark purple paste. As he dipped his fingers into the paste, he said, "The spirits of water bear witness to these marks!"
"For Sokka, the mark of the wise," Bato started, drawing a symbol on Sokka's forehead. "The same mark your father earned.
"For Katara, the mark of the brave," he continued, drawing a crescent on Katara's forehead. "You courage inspires us."
"For Rin and Aang, the mark of the trusted," he finished, moving his finger across Rin's forehead. The mark felt cold and heavy on her face, as if an icicle was hanging from her head. It made her uncomfortable. As Rin resisted the urge to wipe the symbol from her forehead, Bato moved on to draw the same mark onto Aang. "You two are now honorary members of the Southern Water Tribe."
"No, I can't," Aang muttered.
"Of course you can," Katara said.
"You can't trust me," Aang replied, wiping the mark from his head and turning around.
"What are you talking about?" Katara asked, approaching Aang.
"A messenger gave me this to give to Bato," Aang explained, taking a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Katara, who unfolded it. "You have to understand, I was afraid-"
"This is a map to our father!" Sokka shouted, peering over Katara's shoulder. "You had this the whole time?"
"Wait, that was from last night, wasn't it!" Rin exclaimed, realizing who Aang was talking to at the ship.
"You knew?" Katara asked.
"How could you?" Sokka shouted, pointing towards Aang. "You can go to the North Pole on your own. We're going to find dad."
As Sokka marched off towards the woods, Bato reached out to try and stop him. "Now Sokka, I think you should-"
"Katara, are you with me?" Sokka asked, turning around towards his sister. She looked back at Aang at Rin, then back to Sokka.
"I'm with you."
Bato, Sokka, and Kata started walking back down the forest path to the abbey, leaving Rin and Aang behind on the beach. Without a word, Aang whipped out his glider and flew in their direction. With a sigh, Rin started walking through the forest, following everyone back to the abbey.
Aang watched Bato and the two siblings pack up from on top of Appa's head as they got ready for their journey to their father. As they walked to the village gates, Katara looked up at Aang. Both of their eyes were filled with disappointment.
"Good luck, Aang."
"You too."
As the three water tribe members went through the gate and out of the abbey, one of the sisters approached Aang to see him off.
"I guess I should be leaving now," Aang muttered, grabbing onto Appa's reigns.
"That would be best," the woman said. Without a word, Aang ordered Appa through the gates, looking towards the forest path as Katara and Sokka walked out of sight.
"I'm such an idiot," Aang told himself.
"Yeah, you probably are," Aang heard someone say from behind Appa. Turning around, he saw Rin climbing up the bison's tail and into the saddle. "So, are we going to the North Pole or what?"
"Wait, you're coming?" Aang asked, surprised at Rin's sudden appearance.
"Why wouldn't I?" Rin asked back. "I signed up to help the Avatar, not some whiney water kids."
"Well, I guess we're going to the North Pole now," Aang said, directing Appa down the path to the beach. As Appa lumbered down the trail, Rin walked up behind Aang.
"Seriously though, you were an idiot back there."
"I know, I know, you don't have to rub it in. I shouldn't have been so selfish."
"No, I mean you were stupid when you confessed the truth to them," Rin explained. "Why didn't you say that you forgot you had the map? Or better yet, wait until you can get away from them and then claim that a messenger had just arrived with the map?"
"I can't do that!" Aang exclaimed. "They're my best friends, I can't just lie to them."
"Seriously?" Rin asked, rubbing her forehead and sitting back down in the saddle. "First the food thing, and now this... you're too naive, you know?"
"How so? I'm just following my beliefs, what's wrong with that?" Aang asked.
"The world doesn't work that way," Rin explained. "Being completely truthful is probably the worst way through life. You have to lie at least once in a while. Ironically, lying can be a way to keep someone's trust, unlike what you did back there."
"How do you know?" Aang argued.
"You were probably raised in some cozy temple or monastery, right?" Rin asked. Aang nodded in response.
"You got taken care of by monks?" Another nod.
"They taught you to be honest and other crap like that?" Aang nodded once more.
"Well, I've been by myself for most of the past few years," Rin said. "If there's anything the world has taught me, it's that you're probably going to die if you try to follow your morals."
"It doesn't matter now. They're already gone," Aang muttered as they reached the beach. Suddenly, Rin heard a shout from the forest. Turning around, she saw one of the sisters from the abbey.
"Avatar, you must leave!" the woman shouted.
"I know, nobody wants me around, I got it," Aang mumbled.
"A group of people came to the abbey looking for you," the lady continued with a worried look on her face.
"Who?" Aang asked, devoting his full attention to the woman.
"A fierce looking woman and a man with a scar. They were riding a giant beast," she explained.
"Zuko," Rin and Aang said at the same time, looking at each other. Aang's eyes widened in realization.
"You know his name?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, who's ship do you think I worked on?" Rin replied, focusing her attention on the lady who was waiting to speak.
"The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you," she said, causing Aang's eyes to widen once again.
"A necklace?" Aang said. "Katara! We've got to go back! Yip yip!"
Appa soared into the air, letting out a loud growl as they flew back into the forest. It would only be a matter of time before Zuko found the two siblings and realize that the Avatar was somewhere else.
As Appa approached the abbey, Rin saw a giant brown creature burst through the gates, sniffing around wildly as if looking for a scent. Riding the beast was a black haired woman dressed in dark leather, along with the prince and his uncle. They were holding the two water tribe siblings, who were being dragged along the side of the beast.
"So that's how they found us..." Rin muttered, turning to Aang. "Be careful, that shirshu sees with it's sense of smell. It has some weird toxin on its tongue, so watch out. I got hit once some time ago, and it wasn't pleasant."
"Got it. Take these," Aang commanded, handing the reins over to Rin. He then unfolded his glider and started spiraling over the abbey, just as the shirshu looked up towards him. He swooped down in front of the shirshu, causing it to buck its passengers onto the ground. The woman immediately climbed back onto the shirshu, leaving the other passengers behind. Rin watched from above, before realizing that she should probably help Aang.
"Yip yip!" Rin shouted, directing Appa to the ground. She saw the shirshu and its rider approaching Aang and, using the reins, she pulled Appa's horns towards the shirshu. The bison seemed to get the message, as he immediately rammed the other creature through the wall and into the hallways of the abbey, causing the woman to fall off.
"Thank you!" Aang called, before dodging a blast of flame from Zuko. Meanwhile, Rin looked over towards the water tribe siblings to check whether they were okay or not. She saw them being carried to the side by two of the sisters. Rin assumed that they were struck by the shirshu, since they were still awake and talking to each other, but the rest of their bodies weren't moving. However, before she could go to check up on them, Rin heard a rush of air and fire behind her.
"Up!" Rin commanded, narrowly avoiding an explosion caused by a clash between Aang and Zuko. From the air, Rin saw the woman get up and whip the shirshu back onto its legs, before mounting it once more. As Rin and Appa passed overhead, a long tongue suddenly extended from the shirshu's mouth and slashed Appa's hind leg, causing him to crash into the ground.
"Come on, get up. You're a big guy, it shouldn't hurt that much," Rin muttered as the shirshu and its rider drew closer. Just as they approached striking distance, Appa slowly stood up, growling at the mole-nosed beast before charging, with the shirshu doing the same. The two animals clashed and the shirshu, being the lighter of the two, gave way, causing its rider to fly through the air over Rin and Appa. Suddenly, as the other woman hit the ground, Appa turned and tried to stomp her. As she rolled away, Appa growled at Zuko, who had come close during his fight with Aang.
"Hey! The shirshu's the bigger threat here!" Rin shouted, looking over her shoulder at the mole creature, who was getting up and charging back towards Appa. However, the bison paid no heed to her warning, focusing on Zuko as the shirshu drew closer. With a sigh, Rin turned and got up, running across Appa's back to confront the shirshu. However, with three swift strikes of its tongue, the beast had left two large gashes in Appa's flank, along with a large gash down Rin's left leg.
Not again, Rin thought as the toxins caused a stinging pain to flood her body. It was as if thousands of tiny needles were running through her veins, stabbing into every part of herself. Rin clenched her teeth as her limbs locked up in pain, causing her to fall down the side of the bison.
"How do those toxins feel?" the woman asked, walking by Rin's body and climbing back onto her shirshu as Appa collapsed onto the ground beside Rin. "Don't worry, by the time they wear off, you'll be in prison and I'll have a lot of gold... along with that large sum you seem to be carrying around on your head."
As the woman rode off to pursue the Avatar, Rin felt the stinging pain starting to fade, quickly being replaced by a dull ache in her bones. Huh, I can move again, Rin thought, looking down at her leg to see if she actually got hit. Sure enough, there was a bloody gash running down her leg, staining her clothes and causing Rin to grimace. With a groan, she stood up, spotting Sokka and Katara lying down at the side of the courtyard talking to each other.
"How are you doing? When did you get hit?" Rin asked as she limped up to the two siblings. Sokka's arms were skewed over, while Katara was leaning uncomfortable against the wall in such a way that put a large amount of strain on her neck. Both of them were covered in rubble from the fight.
"Some time ago," Sokka explained. "I've only just gotten a little feeling back."
"Seriously? I got hit a few seconds ago, and I'm fine," Rin argued, moving the siblings into a more comfortable position.
"Easy for you to say," Katara grumbled as her hand started to twitch. "We're still paralyzed."
"Well, apart from a bit of aching, I'm fine. Maybe the shirshu ran out of toxins," Rin said as one of the sisters came out of the abbey. The sister took out a small bottle of perfume, and Rin could immediately tell that it was strong. From her position about fifteen feet away, she could smell the sharp odor emanating from the bottle, and she could see the scent trail exiting the opening of the bottle. As the sister put the perfume under Sokka's nose, he instantly sprung up, drawing back from the scent. Katara did the same, revolting from the smell of the perfume. Rin could only imagine how strong the smell was from that close.
"When we were captured by Zuko, the mole thing used the map to track Aang's scent," Sokka explained as he rubbed his nose, trying to get rid of the smell. "It seems to see with it's sense of smell. Let's give it something to look at."
"So, the perfume?" Rin asked as Sokka nodded in confirmation, then turned to the sisters of the abbey, who were hiding behind large pots of perfume.
"Sisters, I'm going to need you to push the pots near the beast," Sokka commanded. "Once you get near enough, spill the perfume. Katara, bend the perfume onto the creature's nose. It'll never know what hit it."
The sisters lined up behind the pots, along with Sokka and Rin. They slowly started to approach the mole creature, which was chasing Aang through the abbey, trying to catch him with its tongue. As Aang dodged both lashes of the paralyzing tongue and deadly blasts of fire from Zuko, the nuns spilled the perfume, allowing Katara to waterbend the liquid onto the creature. The effect was immediate: the beast went berserk and started lashing out randomly with its tongue, whipping around and throwing its rider to the ground.
"Get away!" Rin shouted, turning away from the berserk creature. However, before she could run, the tongue caught her in the back, causing the stinging sensation to force itself through her body once more.
"Rin!" Sokka shouted, running to pick her up and carry her to safety. However, as he grabbed onto her, she pushed him away, getting up and dusting herself off.
"I'm fine, don't worry," Rin said, running to safety as the rampaging creature leaped over the wall and into the forest. "Go check if the Avatar's okay."
"Are you sure you're fine? That tongue just knocked out prince jerkface over there, and he's probably the most stubborn guys we know," Sokka said, pointing towards Zuko, who was laying on the ground, paralyzed.
"I'm fine, okay?" Rin reassured Sokka, who shrugged and went over to Aang, along with Katara. After checking on her injuries, Rin went over to join them.
"So, where are we going?" Aang asked as the group flew over the forest.
"We're taking you to the north pole," Katara replied.
"We've lost too much time as it is," Sokka said, wrapping a bandage around his arm to cover the gash left by the shirshu's tongue.
"Didn't you two want to see your father or something?" Rin asked to Sokka.
"Of course we do," Sokka replied. "But Aang's family too. Right now, he needs us more."
"And we need you," Katara said to Aang.
"What, so I'm not family or something?" Rin asked.
"I don't think two days is long enough to be part of the family," Katara replied.
"Seriously? After all I've done for you guys?" Rin argued.
"Don't worry, you can be part of our family if you want to," Aang told Rin with a smile, before turning to Katara. "I just wish that I could give you a small piece of home, Katara."
"I'll be okay, Aang." Katara reassured.
"Still, maybe just a little trinket, something like... this!" Aang said, suddenly whipping out a blue necklace from his pocket and attracting Rin's attention.
"Aang, how did you get that?" Katara asked, smiling as she put the necklace around her neck.
"Zuko told me to make sure that you got it," Aang said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Aww, that's sweet of him. Give him a kiss for me when you see him, okay?" Katara said, playfully kissing Aang on the cheek before turning to Rin, with a dead serious look on her face. "And don't you dare try to steal my necklace."
"Whoa, what's with the accusations?" Rin asked. "Besides, I don't think a carved stone on a leather strap is going to be worth much."
"This necklace is worth more to me than anything else! Are you saying it's worthless?" Katara shouted.
"Well, it may be worth a lot to you, but as far as market value, I don't think it'll fetch a big price. Just keep it for yourself," Rin explained, leaning back against the side of the saddle.
"Hey Rin, do you need any bandages?" Sokka asked, holding up the roll of bandages he was using. "I saw you get hit at least once by the tongue. And about that, why weren't you paralyzed like everyone else?"
"I dunno, I guess it ran out of toxin, or maybe I just have a resistance to whatever toxin the shirshu uses. I've gotten hit by it before, you know," Rin said, taking the bandages from Sokka and wrapping them around her leg. She decided to leave the wound on her back alone, as it wasn't as deep and had already scabbed over.
"Really?" Sokka asked, taking the bandages back. "When?"
"I came across a wild one before, and apparently they're very territorial. Luckily for me, they're only seem to eat plants, so I was fine, after the toxins wore off," Rin explained.
"Oh," Sokka said, returning to his seat. Meanwhile, Rin turned around to watch the land go by underneath them, with the sunset off to the side. Slowly but surely, they were making their way to the North Pole.
A/N: There are some things that I feel like I need criticism, or at least advice about. Right now, I'm concerned about three things:
1) Characterization. I'm afraid that Rin is coming off as flat, or uninteresting.
2) Action scenes. I have no idea how to write one, which was actually one of the reasons why I deleted chapter one. I can't really write an engaging fight scene.
3) Endings. I have no idea how to end a chapter, and most of my endings feel abrupt.
Please leave a review, and if you have the time, please tell me if and how I can improve. Your reviews will help me write better. Remember, this is my first fanfic, so there's got to be something I can improve on.
Oh, and one more thing: unless people want it, I probably won't go into the details on Rin's appearance. She looks Earth Kingdom, and she wears an old brown cloak with a brown tunic underneath. Unless something else comes up later, or it's requested, I don't think I really need to go into more detail.