The Avatar's Advisor (HIATUS)

Imprisoned

Aang smiles at Polu from his position on the uprooted tree. "How's your head doing?"

Katara turns to him. "Oh, yeah! You took a pretty brutal hit on Kyoshi, huh?"

Polu nods as he pulls the bubble of water from his skull and releases it with a splash. "I think it's finally healed. There's no more aching or ringing."

The Avatar sits up as Sokka approaches the group. "You're back! What's for dinner?"

Aang and Polu crouch between the siblings as Sokka opens his bag.

"We've got a few options. First, round nuts and some kind of oval-shaped nuts. Also some rock-shaped nuts that might just be rocks." Sokka smiles sheepishly. "Dig in."

Polu picks up an oval nut. "This is the seed for a poisonous plant." He reaches for another and rattles it near his ear. "This one isn't mature enough to eat yet."

He points to the bottom of the bag, where 'rock-shaped nuts' are piled. "And those are all certainly just rocks."

Sokka's face contorts into something between disappointment and anger. "Well, if you know so much, why don't you go hunt?"

The Advisor shrugs as he flops into the dirt. "I know a lot about plants, - and the world in general - but that doesn't mean I know how to find them. I wasn't allowed out of the house without supervision growing up, so I didn't get to explore the wilderness."

Katara sighs. They'll keep bickering if someone doesn't intervene. "Seriously, what else you got?"

Sokka attempts to find something edible in his bag when a loud boom shakes the area around the group.

Instantly, Polu is searching for the source of the noise. He picks up on vibrations and human vitals. "It's coming from over there!"

Katara and Aang take this as their signal to race forward.

Sokka throws his hands in the air as Polu groans. "Shouldn't we be running away from huge booms?"

The teens exchange a glance before following the younger. They find them crouched behind a fallen tree.

An earthbender stands on a dried-out river bed. The ground shakes as he moves boulders around.

"An earthbender," Katara murmurs.

Polu turns to the girl. "Katara, we shouldn't approach him. We don't know if he's from a village overrun by the-"

He stops as his eyes bulge from his head. What in the world is she doing?

"Hello there! I'm Katara. What's your name?"

Polu slaps a hand to his face. "Is she trying to inform the entire world of our exact location? Why is she yelling at him?"

The earthbender screams and runs, blocking his path with an avalanche.

"It was nice to meet you!" Aang calls after him.

"I just wanted to say hi." Katara frowns at the reaction of the teen.

Aang perks up. "Hey, that guy's got to be running somewhere. Maybe we're near a village. And I bet that village has a market."

"Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara smiles broadly.

"Hey! I worked hard to get those nuts," Sokka huffs.

"I don't really think we should be heading towards a village. The world knows the Avatar is back by now, and I'm sure it won't be long before they learn of my existence, too. It's for the best if we-"