The Traitor Princess

Chapter 36 - The Library

The group was traveling for a few days and made a stop in a barren prairie at Aang's request. He pulled out a flute and sat cross-legged in front of a bunch of small holes.

"What's out here?" Asked Sokka.

Toph placed her hand in the dirt. "A lot, actually. There's hundreds of little–"

"Shh! I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." Aang played a note on his flute and a little groundhog creature popped out of a hole and mimicked the note. "Yeah!" Aang played another note and another groundhog did the same thing as the first. "I'm putting an orchestra together."

Sokka huffed in annoyance. "Orchestra, huh? Well, la-di-da." Three little groundhogs popped out of the dirt and mimicked Sokka's words. Eziri giggled beside him, but he just rolled his eyes. Aang continued to play more notes while Momo tried to go after the little groundhogs. Sokka walked up to Aang and plugged the flute with his finger.

"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."

"We did make plans. We're all picking mini-vacations." Toph countered.

"There's no time for vacations."

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off!"

"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Katara added.

"I'd like to point out that you still haven't even scratched the surface on your firebending, Aang." Eziri said gently. "I know you need a break, but I'm kind of with Sokka on this one."

"Exactly! Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" Sokka knocked on an imaginary door. "Knock, knock. Hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home? I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war."

"Am I invisible?" Eziri mumbled to herself. Toph heard and laughed.

"All right, we'll finish our vacations and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence." Katara said mockingly. Aang chuckled and got to his feet. He pulled out his map and held it out for Katara.

"Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"

Katara studied the map for a moment and pointed to a location. "How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing."

"Oh, yeah. I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring. And I don't use the word 'pristine.' It's one of nature's wonders."

The group boarded Appa and flew off to Katara's chosen destination. When they arrived, there was only a desolate little town surrounded by desert. There was a measly, small ice spring in the center. Eziri noticed the looks some nearby sandbenders were giving and subtly pulled one of her knives from her belt. She tucked it into her sleeve so it was ready to go on short notice.

"Must've changed ownership since I was here." Aang laughed nervously.

As they walked into the bar, they passed the group of sandbenders. One of them spit at Sokka's feet. Eziri pushed Sokka behind her and glared up at the man. The guy just grunted and let out a mocking little chuckle. Eziri slowly slid the knife from her sleeve into her hand. Before she could do anything, Katara ushered Eziri and Sokka into the bar.

Eziri fell into step with Sokka and spoke quietly to him. "Keep an eye out. I have a bad feeling about this place." Sokka gave her a serious look and nodded.