The Traitor Princess

Chapter 23 - The Northern Air Temple

The group was on their quest north when they came across another group of travelers. They joined them for the evening, listening to their stories by the fire. The last story was about airbenders flying around at the Northern Air Temple. Naturally they all flew to the temple the next morning to check it out.

"Do you think we'll really find airbenders?" Katara asked Eziri and her brother.

"Doubt it." Eziri muttered.

"You want me to be like you, or totally honest?" Sokka asked.

"Are you saying I'm a liar?"

"I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing, basically."

"Katara I'd love for Aang to find another airbender, but my Great-Grandfather was ruthless."

"Hey, guys, look at this!" Aang called from Appa's head. The trio turned their attention to the scene in front of them. There were mountains with buildings perched right on the top. It looked quite similar to the Southern Air Temple. There were flying people racing all around the buildings.

"They really are airbenders!" Katara cheered. She and her brother were fascinated. Eziri kept her eyes on Aang and she saw the crestfallen look on his face.

"No, they're not."

"What do you mean they're not? Those guys are flying!" Sokka protested.

"Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move, they're not airbending. Those people have no spirit."

As they got closer, a boy in a flying chair sped right above them, almost hitting the group in the process. He let out a loud laugh as he passed.

"I don't know, Aang. That kid seemed pretty spirited."

Aang smirked and opened up his glider. He jumped off Appa and soared through the air towards the other gliders. Katara rushed up to grab the reins and struggled to navigate through all the flying kids.

"We better find some solid ground, before it finds us."

They led the bison down to the temple and landed safely on the ground, despite the numerous flying children. Aang was still flying around the temple with the kid from earlier. They watched as the kid released white smoke from his glider and formed a picture of Aang's face. Eziri and the Water Tribe siblings burst into laughter.

Aang landed down beside his friends with an annoyed expression that matched his smoke portrait. The other kid landed shortly after and other children pulled the glider off his wheelchair.

"Hey, you're a real airbender. You must be the Avatar! That's amazing! I've heard stories about you!"

"Thanks."

Sokka walked up to the boy's chair and started inspecting it. "Wow! This glider chair is incredible!"

"You think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my dad designed." The kid, who introduced himself as Teo, led the four friends into the building. There were pipes and random machinery lining the walls. Eziri noticed how disturbed Aang looked.

"Wow!" Sokka excitedly ran up to the machines to check them out.

"Yeah, my dad is the mastermind behind this whole place. Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift while we're gliding."

"This place is unbelievable." Aang mumbled.

"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?"

"No, just unbelievable." Aang walked away. Eziri walked along the wall with the pipes, examining the paintings beneath all the heavy machinery. From what she could see, it looked like a beautiful mural. She sighed at the sight of the pipes. All the metal and steam reminded her of the Fire Nation. She was always interested in the new inventions, but she thought a lot of the Fire nation machinery was ugly. It all looked especially out-of-place at an Air Temple.