The next day, Tsireya and Roxto dive into the water as the warm shallows gave a serene scene of fish and other marine life swimming around as Ao'nung joins them as they swam.
Above them, Aang and Sokka only in trunks stood by the edge of the tarp.
"Come on." Aang said.
They then sprint towards the water.
"Whoo-hoo!" Sokka yelled out.
Aang inhales sharply as they both fell into the water and looked around. And above them, Katara, Suki and Ty Lee only in undergarments rushed to the edge and jumped.
"Whoo!" Katara cheered.
They fell into the water and looked around the many fish and other animals as Aang watches as a Pincer Fish swim by. And Katara watched a shoal off Hammerbrow Fish swam by her.
Nearby, Tsireya, Roxto, and Ao'nung swam so well it was almost as if they were more at home in water in on land. And they continued swimming as Tsireya flips around turning to the others as Aang saw them and gestures to everyone else to follow.
Katara however, swam off in a different direction as she explores the reef and was truly amazed.
Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee finally caught up to the trio as they continued swimming, but Tsireya, Roxto, and Ao'nung were proving more advanced swimmers than them. And then the four swam up to the surface gasping for air.
Below them, the trio looked up seeing them as Aang looked back down to them.
"Swim together with us." Tsireya signed.
Aang wasn't completely sure what the gesture means, but he can tell she was saying something. And Tsireya made a gesture to join them.
The group of four gasped taking deep breaths and then dive down again and rejoins them as they swam off. And they followed them to a deeper part of the lagoon and soon, the four swam back up again for air.
And the Na'vi trio watched them.
"What's wrong with them?" Ao'nung signed.
"Those guys are bad divers." Roxto signed.
"Stop." Tsireya signed. "They're learning."
Ao'nung then rolled his eyes.
At the surface, Aang, Sokka, Suki, Ty Lee inhaled deeply catching their breath as Tsireya, Roxto, and Ao'nung swam up joining them.
"Are you all right?" Tsireya asked.
"You're too fast!" Ty Lee said. "Wait for us."
"Just breathe." Tsireya instructed as Ao'nung surfaced. "Breathe."
"You are not good divers." Ao'nung said. "Maybe good at swinging through trees, but..."
Tsireya then whacks her brother's head as Roxto laughed.
"Come on, pal." Sokka said. "We don't speak this finger talk, guys. We don't know what you're saying."
"I will teach you." Tsireya said.
"Where is Katara?" Roxto asked.
"Katara?" Suki frowned.
"Who?" Ao'nung frowned.
"Katara." Roxto said. "Where is Katara?"
"What, she was..." Aang frowned looking around. "I thought she was right behind us."
"Did you see her?" Tsireya asked.
Elsewhere underwater, Katara swam through the dreamy-looking reef as she was truly mesmerized as she smiled.
Many miles inland in the Earth Kingdom, Azula wanders aimlessly through the forest. She intends to finish what she started a year ago, but to ensure her success, she feels she's missing something.
As she hikes, she then arrives at a shallow stream noticing a trackway on the bank. She kneels down examining them, and saw the footprints were made by Raptors, and she can see it was pack of four by the footprints.
"Hmm." Azula pondered with interest.
She then saw that the tracks all left in one direction, and she knows well that they use teamwork cooperation to hunt.
And that gives her an idea, as she got up and follows the tracks.
Back at the Metkayina, Aang and the others stood by as Ao'nung whoops and clicks his tongue as a group of Ilu swam around as one grunts and Tsireya yips.
"These are Ilu." Ao'nung said turning to them.
Tsireya yips to them.
"If you want to live here, you have to ride." Ao'nung said.
Shortly later, Sokka was on an Ilu as Aang was close by with another and Ao'nung.
"Make the bond gently." Tsireya instructed holding the Ilu's left nueral whip.
Sokka then gently strokes the tip and the Ilu moans as it jostles.
"Feel his breath." Tsireya said. "Feel his strength."
Sokka closed his eyes and breathes deeply.
"Hold here." Tsireya instructed to the handle strap tied on the neural whips.
Sokka grabs hold of it with his left hand.
"Hold on." Ao'nung said.
Sokka inhales sharply and the Ilu takes off with powerful flips of it's four flippers and tucks it's front flippers giving the swimming motion a dolphin would use. But grunts muffled as he struggles to hold on as the Ilu swims swiftly. And then Sokka lost his grip and was flung back as the Ilu swims off. And Sokka sunk down and banged his head on a rock as he let out a muffled exclaim.
Ao'nung saw this and laughs and stood up from the water as they laughed.
Sokka surfaced and gasped rubbing his head, and then the Ilu he was riding swam up to him. He turns to it and the Ilu squawks as if making fun of him and then swims off splashing in his face.
The others continue laughing as well as Suki with a hand over her mouth.
"You all right, Land Boy?" A Metkayina said.
Katara meanwhile, resting on her knees on the seafloor watches as a Ilu swims up to her circling as it bellowed softly.
The Ilu circles round a stack of coral and turns back to her as Katara held her hand out as it squeaks. The Ilu then nuzzled Katara as it clicks and squeaks as the waterbender smiled.
On the surface, Tsireya and Ty Lee were with another Ilu as it grunts. And Tsireya hands Ty Lee a fish as she feeds it and the Ilu chops down on it's snack as Ty Lee giggled. She gently pets it's face as the Ilu squeaks affectionally appearing to like her.
"I love her already." Ty Lee smiled.
Back with Katara, she gently strokes her Ilu's left neural whip as it's tip as the Ilu clicks. And she holds onto the strap handle and the Ilu squeaks swimming off.
And Katara was truly enchanted by the moment.
Elsewhere, Tsireya was riding an Ilu as Ty Lee and Suki followed her on Ilus of their own. And Ty Lee's Ilu clicks as they were getting the hang of it.
Tsireya and her Ilu leads them as her Ilu chirps as they swam among the many formations of coral and rocks. And the Ilus squeaked and clicked as they swam off.
Later, they were all on the rocks for a lesson to holding their breath longer underwater.
"Breathe in." Tsireya instructed calmly and inhales deeply.
They all inhale deeply for maximum oxygen intake with each breath.
"And breathe out." Tsireya instructed.
They all exhaled deeply.
"Imagine flicking a flame." Tsireya said. "You must slow down your heartbeat. Let your mind go clear."
Later, they were back underwater riding Ilus as they squeaked swimming around in the enchanting shallow waters.
And they were getting better at staying under longer, going from less than a minute, to as long as five minutes on a single breath.
They all soon surfaced again.
"Whoo!" Aang cheered.
Sokka chuckled.
"You are learning to breathe." Tsireya said.
Back on the Earth Kingdom mainland, Azula has followed the tracks through the forest.
And she peers over a log seeing a pack of Atrociraptors, four of them as they were resting after feeding on a Tenontosaurus they brought down. One was a whitish color with gray striping and red eyes, another was orange with a white underbelly, arms, and lower jaw, and black stripes from head to tail as well along the arms and legs similar to that of a tiger, the third was a male and primarily orange, with a cream underside and brown stripes from the head to the hips. And the fourth was brownish red with white markings like that of a Copperhead with copper orange and tan stripes.
The pack rests on full stomachs as Azula saw an opportunity, and knows well they are formidable pack hunters. And with keen senses of sight, hearing and smell, they could easily track prey from a distance.
Azula then had a devious grin as she climbs over the log and approaches as the white female who was the alpha roars and turns to her. The other three were then aware of her presence as they got up, the Raptors snarled and spread out as Azula inhales sharply.
The alpha Atrociraptor screeches and hissed at Azula as the pack surrounds her. And then Azula confronts the alpha challenging her as the other three stood back waiting for her command of attack.
But they won't until the alpha makes a move, and they know when to attack if needed.
"It's you and me, cupcake." Azula said.
The Atrociraptor then hisses at her, and Azula growled as the Raptor growled making a quick hand gesture telling the other Raptors to stand back.
Then the alpha lunges as Azula swiftly dodges her attack, and then punches square in the face. That enraged the Raptor for a full-frontal attack as she then turns to Azula with a bloodlusted look and lunges roaring.
Back with Aang and his friends, they were beginning to understand their way of the ocean.
They ride their Ilus at night as the sea gave a bioluminescence glow like with the Pandoran Forest showed. And that the sea is one's home before birth and after death, and has no beginning or end and that water connects all things.
At night, Tsireya showed Katara and Suki a Gill Mantle as it gently clings to Suki's back squelching as it glows.
"It gives breath underwater." Tsireya signed.
Several Metkayina including Ronal had Gill Mantle on their backs as they collected some shellfish. And then she noticed Katara by some coral making a motive with her arm as a glowing shoal of squid oddly followed her motives.
And Ronal watches from behind a coral unsure what to make of it, but sees something within her.
Author's Note:
A big hand out for 25 years of The Prince of Egypt.
And 14 years of Avatar.
And Azula and the Atrociraptors, let's just say I hinted her new team. And try to take a wild guess of what will happen in the next chapter.
