Avatar: The Last Airbender; Book One: Water

Chapter 16: The Northern Air Temple

Anya looked up at Sokka, his face silhouetted by the golden glow of the fire. His eyes were focused on the man who sat a few feet in front of them, gesturing with his hands as he told his story. Smiling contentedly, Anya pulled her feet up on the wooden bench she, Sokka and Katara were seated on, and relaxed against him. His hand was warm against her shoulder.

"So travelers," the storyteller was saying, "the next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look, it might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man! A member of a secret group of air walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!"

Anya smiled more widely. "Aren't air bender stories the best?" she said to her two friends.

"Was it realistic?" asked Katara, raising one eyebrow. "Was that how it was back then?"

Anya shrugged. "I laugh at gravity all the time," she replied. "Haha! Gravity."

Sokka rolled his eyes at the young woman, but he wrapped his other arm around her, drawing her closer. He was startled from his plot, however, when the storyteller's hat appeared before his eyes.

"Jingle, jingle!" said the storyteller, shaking the hat.

Sokka released Anya to search his pockets, but he came up dry. A bug on a bed of lint wiggled feebly in one hand.

"Sorry!" he told the storyteller, who frowned his disappointment.

"Aww! Cheapskates."

Standing quickly, Anya rushed across the circle of firelight to where the storyteller was holding his hat out to another member of the audience.

"Hey, thanks for the story!" she said brightly, looking graciously up at him.

He thrust the hat at her without giving her a second glance. "Tell it to the cap, girl!"

Chittering softly, Momo wrapped himself around Anya's shoulders and reached forward, depositing a copper piece in the cap. Finally looking at them, the storyteller patted Momo on the top of his soft little head.

"Aw, much obliged, little--bat thing!"

"It means a lot to hear air bender stories," Anya said, as she petted Momo. "It must have been a hundred years ago that your great grandfather met them."

"What are you prattling on about, child?" the storyteller said, his brow wrinkling. "Great Grand-Pappy saw the air walkers last week!"

He pointed at a very small, wrinkled old man, who waved at Anya. "Heya!"

...

Anya leaned back on her elbows, watching the clouds rush by. The gold of the sun streamed down her back, making her white hair look pale blonde. In the distance, she could see craggy, snow-capped mountains. Her grey eyes widened at the splendid sight, and she immediately straightened.

"Hey!" she said, pointing ahead. "We're almost at the Northern Air Temple! This is where they had the championships for sky buffalo polo."

Katara sat serenely down next to her brother. "Do you really think we'll find air benders?" she asked him.

Sokka concentrated on the small stick he was whittling away to nothing. "You want me to be like you, or totally honest?" he replied.

Katara frowned at him, folding her arms across her chest. "Are you saying I'm a liar?" she challenged.

"I'm saying you're an optimist," her brother answered. He shrugged. "Same thing, basically."

Anya ignored the squabble, looking ahead with a dreamy smile on her face. "Hey, guys, look at this!" she said, catching their attention.