The DragonBorn

Chapter 39

"They knew something was up in Ba Sing Se?" Katara asked.

Ronin nodded, "Yes, originally she was from the Ba Sing Se, but left when she was a young lady. Even back then she knew of what was happening in the corrupted city and what was happening in the world under the Fire Nation's rule. She wanted to see how bad it had become. When she came back to the settlement, Rian was holding a doll that looked much like Lady Zeraphina. He speaks to it almost every day since getting it, almost as if he could speak to you through the doll, Lady Zeraphina."

Zeraphina smiled at the thought of her brother telling the doll everything that happened to him throughout the days. If only she could hear his voice through her flames.

They flew for about another hour until Ronin recognized the land below. It was next to three large hills sitting side by side as the grass crept over the land and covered the hills.

"Avatar Aang. please land down here." He said. Aang did as told and landed down on the ground in front of the hill in the middle of the three, "Here we are, our great settlement."

Everyone stared at the three hills in confusion as they jumped off of Appa.

"But there's nothing here." Sokka said.

Toph jumped down and smiled seeing something no one else could.

"Oh yes there is. A huge village underground. It's incredible, so many people down there and they're thriving." She said.

Ronin smirked, "Right you are, young earthbender. Your loss of sight does not hinder your abilities at all." Ronin placed his hand on the ground and bent the earth to create a large tunnel that led deep underground. The tunnel was already carved with stairs to climb down.

"Right this way." Ronin gestured and everyone went down the tunnel, leaving Appa on the surface since he didn't like tunnels. Zeraphina lit her hand on fire to light the way down as the tunnel turned dark. Ronin couldn't help but be amazed by her white colored flames.

"It has been some time since I've seen your fire, Lady Zeraphina. I am glad to see that it's brightness hasn't faded after all these years." Ronin said.

"I suppose I'm like my mother. Her fire was always bright." Zeraphina replied.

They walked down the stairs for a few more minutes until they reached a flattened ground.

"So, why are you all underground? Doesn't seem very convenient." Aang asked.

"Well, ever since we started traveling around the world, Earthbenders decided that it would be better for us to hide, so that our enemies wouldn't find us again. Every time we decided to rest and settle for a while, the earthbenders created a large underground cavern so house us, and when it was time for us to move again we'd move our supplies and the earthbenders would collapse the space underground. It would hardly leave a single trace and we could go in peace."

The group, except for Zeraphina of course, were shocked to hear about their way of living. Underground for who knows how long and traveling from place to place.

"So how long have you been here?" Katara asked.

"We've been here in this hideout for about five months now. We heard about the factory back in that fishing village and wanted to do something about it. We had also heard rumors of a fire spirit with bright fire colored hair that was native to the village's lore. So we waited to see if there could be chance that Lady Zeraphina would arrive drawn to the story. And it so happens that you killed two birds with one stone. You destroyed the factory, saving the village, and I was able to find you in the process."

As he finished talking, they saw a soft glow at the end of the tunnel. Zeraphina, out of habit, put out her flame and covered her hair with her hood. But Katara stopped her from completely covering it.