When All Hope Is Lost

The Deserter Part 3

"At least we can actually see where we're going this time." Auretta shrugged as she walked next to her brother.

"Yeah, and we're not tied up this time either." He snorted.

The gaang, as well as Chey, were currently being led to Jeong Jeong's camp. Up at the front of the group, Chey was getting chewed out by one of the people that had caught them.

"Jeong Jeong told you not to look for Avatar!" The man said as he shoved Chey's shoulder.

"Hold on. You know these guys?" Sokka asked.

Chey smiled back at the four kids as if this were all normal. "Oh, yeah. Lin Ye's an old buddy! Right, Lin Ye?"

Lin Ye pointed his spear up towards his 'buddy's face with an annoyed scowl. "Shut up. Keep moving."

"Oh yeah, definitely old buddies." Katara muttered. Auretta snickered, shoving her friend lightly.

"That's gonna be us in the future." She smirked.

The waterbender rose a brow. "Who's gonna be who?"

The girl shrugged. "Depends on the day."

*

After a while of walking in silence, the group came across a small river. Huts lined the side of the hill leading down the the water, with a stone path running down the middle. Appa and Momo stayed together at the edge of the trees while the kids were lead further down the hill.

On the top of the last down slop, the front leader turned around to face Chey. "Go on." He ordered, gesturing past him to a single hut at the edge of the water. "He sees you only."

Despite his earlier talk and clear adoration, Chey waved him off nervously. "Oh, that's ok! We can chat later."

Aang either didn't catch on to his fear, or just didn't care enough. All he was worried about was finding a firebending teacher. "Is that where Jeong Jeong is? I need to talk to him right away!" He said, starting to walk down towards the hut before being blocked by Lin Ye's spear.

"No. You wait there." He then shoved Chey forward. "Go, now!"

Auretta furrowed her brows. "Uh, Chey? Are you gonna be ok?"

The man turned back to her with a grin. "Don't worry! Everything will be fine. He's a great man!" Auretta only grew more worried when he walked down the stone path, repeating to himself how much of a 'great man' this Jeong Jeong is.

Without a word, Lin Ye turned back to the rest of the group and lead them into a nearby hut. The place was empty other than the few candles placed around the edge of the floor.

Auretta turned around to thank Lin Ye for the hut, but he was already gone. She pursed her lips and turned back to her friends. "So, what now?"

"We wait for Jeong Jeong, I guess." Aang shrugged.

"But how long are we going to wait? Aren't we trying to get you and Katara to the North Pole as soon as possible?" Sokka asked, his annoyance clear in his voice.

Katara sighed. "I hate to agree with Sokka,"

"Hey!"

"but he's right. We can't wait for him long. If he says he'll teach you, that's a different story. But, if he doesn't come to talk to us by tomorrow, we need to move on."

Aang frowned. He didn't want to miss out on possibly one of the only firebenders not with the Fire Nation, but his friends were right. "Ok." He sighed.

Auretta looked around the empty room with her hands on her hips. "Well, if we're going to stay here tonight, we need some of our stuff."

The gaang headed back up the hill to collect their things from Appa's saddle. While the airbenders bid the bison goodnight, the water tribe siblings set up their sleeping bags back at the hut. Not too long after they were all settled in, Chey walked through the door.