Frozen Heart, Melted Ice

Chpt 15 - The Serpent's Pass

It had been two days since the kids ran into the sandbenders. They were able to get a ride with them to the edge of a desert and split up from the sandbenders at a river near Full Moon Bay, which was just South of Ba Sing Se.

It didn't take too long to get out of the desert when with the sandbenders, they had food and water and medical supplies and did not hesitate to give the kids as much as they wanted. Y/n even got some medicine that made her illness completely disappear, which was all she needed to push through everything that had happened. Though the trip was decently comfortable, it was a bit awkward seeing as it was the sandbenders who got them into this mess, but at least their food was good. They were at the river within a few hours, and spent the rest of the day bathing and relaxing along and in the water.

Y/n hadn't had a chance to examine her scrolls yet, with wondering around the desert and almost dying from dehydration, it was difficult to find a chance to read them. But now she sat with her feet in the water examining the two scrolls she still had, Sokka had taken her star charts.

First she examined What Is A Prophecy, And How They Come To Be. It said that prophecies, or predictions, were made by the spirits as a way to get humans to fulfill important tasks. The rest of the text was in some strange language she could not decipher, it was nothing like she had ever seen before. Each of what Y/n assumed to be words were now little pictures and shapes unlike any writing she had seen anywhere. They had different colors and patterns, some taking shape of a bird like creature while others were nothing more than a simple circle.

She opened the next scroll and read through it. There was one line that was written normally at the top of the paper. The sentence was in bold black lettering followed by the strange hieroglyphs below. It explained that the ocean spirit has been known to give knowledge, while the moon gives life. Y/n skimmed the rest of the scroll quickly but there was nothing that was any use to her. She exhaled and rolled them back up in her blanket and stuffed them in her bag, maybe in Ba Sing Se she could find someone to help her. She slowly slipped into the cool, clear water below.

"Waterbending bomb!" Katara came flying down from the cliff side above them, sending a massive wave of water all over Toph, Sokka, and their things. Y/n jumped out of the water as quickly as she could to dry off her scrolls and clothes.

"Sure, 5000 year olds maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on them." Sokka grumbled, holding the maps out in front of them like some diseased animal.

"Sorry." Katara emerged from the water and dried Sokka's scrolls and maps.

"So did you figure out what route we're gonna take?" Aang asked as the group collected around Sokka and his maps.

"Ok, we just got out of the desert," Sokka explained, "So we must be around here." He pointed on a spot on the map just South of Full moon bay, "And we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here," He pointed to a large circled patch of land just North of Full Moon bay, "It looks like the only passage connecting the South to the North is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass."

"You're sure that's the best way to go?" Toph asked, not bothering to look at the map, it's not like she could see it anyway.

"It's the only way." Sokka said while rolling up the map, "I mean it's not like we have Appa to fly us there."

"Shush up about Appa." Katara scolded in a whisper, "Cant you at least try to be sensitive?"

"Katara it's ok." Aang shrugged, "I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse."

The group stared in silence for a moment.

"Oh, well, ok. I'm glad you're doing better." Katara broke the silence.