Avatar: The Last Airbender; Book One: Water

Chapter 15: The Deserter

The forest floor was peaceful, dappled with sunlight streaming through the leaves above. The wind blew softly; birds sang; and the scent of earth and greenery filled the air. However, this idyllic scene was interrupted when a small black and white lemur landed with a small thump.

Chattering to himself, the creature looked about, then leapt into the air, flying from tree to tree. As fast as he moves, the lemur reached his chosen destination in a matter of minutes. He spiraled down from above, coming to rest on a circular notice board around which stood three teenagers: two young women and one young men. Behind them, an enormous flying bison lay in the shade, dozing.

“This should give us a good idea of what’s around here,” said one of the girls, called Katara. She inspected the notice board with interest, examining its many fliers. Just behind her, her brother was finishing off the last of the food from a burlap bag.

“See if you can find a menu,” Sokka said as he folded the bag over his arm. “I’m starving.”

The other girl pulled her long, white hair over her shoulder, bouncing on her toes as her eyes devoured the colorful notice board. She suddenly leaped forward, jabbing a flier with her index finger.

“I bet we’ll find something to eat here!” Anya said, running her finger over the text as she read aloud. “The Fire Days Festival. Fire Nation cultural exhibits…jugglers, benders, magicians.” She grinned. “This’d be a great place for me to study some real fire benders!”

“You might wanna rethink that,” said Sokka as he wandered around to the other side of the notice board. “Look at this.”

Anya and Katara moved to the other side of the board, where Sokka was staring up at a flier showing a smiling young woman with white hair, pale skin, and slate-grey eyes.

“Hey, a poster of me!” said Anya.

“A wanted poster,” said Sokka, frowning. “This is bad.”

Anya stood up on her toes, unpinning the poster from the board. Katara peered over her shoulder, then stepped back.

“I think we better keep moving,” she said.

Anya turned to look at her two friends plaintively, the poster clasped to her chest. “I have to learn fire bending at some point,” she pleaded. “This could be my only chance to watch a master up close.”

Katara shifted from foot to foot, examining the dirt. “I guess…we could check it out,” she said quietly.

“What?” said Sokka, turning to look at his sister with surprise. “You want to walk into a Fire Nation town, where they’re all fired up with all their, you know, fire?”

Katara looked up at her brother, determined now. She knew what it was like to fear you would never have the chance to hone a skill, a skill that, in Anya’s case, was necessary for not only her sake, but that of the world.

“We’ll wear disguises, and if it looks like trouble, we’ll leave.”

And, wearing triumphant smiles, she and Anya went to rouse Appa.

“Yeah, because we always leave before we get into trouble,” Sokka said to the forest, glancing once more at the other two posters on the board: one of a white-haired man, the other of someone in a blue mask, before turning to join the girls.

They decided not to enter the walled village until dusk. Anya petted Appa on the side of his huge face and patted Momo on his little head. “You guys stay out of sight here while we go to the festival,” she told her pets. Momo chattered and squeaked at her, then flew up into the air and dropped into a small bush nearby. Appa followed and hunkered down beside the bush as if trying to hide. Anya smiled indulgingly, then turned to her friends.