The dualbender (atla) book 2

Chapter 24 - Detectives

- Third POV -

Somewhere in a forest, there's a wagon being pulled by an ostrich horse. An Earth Kingdom soldier sits in the front, holding the reins. Inside of the wagon there's a wealthy man playing with his gold pieces. He is thrown to the front when the cart suddenly stops. The man looks around in fear, quickly closing and locking the box with the precious gold. His scared eyes shift from side to side to as he hears rumbling noises outside. He clutches the chest protectively. The cold sweat is dripping down his face. He sighs in relieve as the noise died down, but he swiftly cowers back in fear as two swords pierce the top of the cart. A fist comes crashing down through the ceiling. When the aghast man looks up, he sees that it were the blades of a masked man that wrecked his cart. He anxiously holds up his treasury toward the male figure, while trying to stay away from him as far as possible. Zuko snatches it out of his hands and disappears, leaving the surprised man behind.

❀❀❀

The Chin village, which lies at the edge of a the tall cliff, is where Team Avatar currenlty is. The mayor, Sokka, Katara, and Mizuki are standing nearby a small shrine.

"This is the crime scene" Begins the mayor while the teenagers look around curiously. Sokka starts to investigate the walls of the shrine, while the mayor is standing at the edge of the cliff and points at something. "This is the footprint of the killer, Kyoshi" Says the man as Sokka quickly squats beside the footprint to take a closer look at it. "It was at sunset, 370 years ago today, that she emerged from the temple, and struck down Chin the Great. After that tragic day, we built this statue to immortalize our great leader. Feel free to appreciate it" States the mayor beore leaving the teenagers alone.

Sokka moves in to examine the statue from every possible angle, while Katara and Mizuki look curiously at him. Sokka is investigating the base of the statue, when something catches his attention. He looks through his magnifying monocle in order to take a better look at the right foot of the statue. His eyes widen as he makes a discovery. He swiftly runs over to the shrine that is facing the statue and examines the stone it is made of.

"This temple and this statue were cut from the same stone. And we know that the statue was built after Chin died" Points out Sokka.

"So if they were built at the same time, that means–" Katara gets cut off by her brother, much to her dismay.

"Shhh! I wanna solve it!" Interrupts Sokka.

"That means Kyoshi never set foot in this temple!" Exclaims Sokka while pointing at the temple.

"That's a big hole in the mayor's story, but it's not enough to prove Aang's innocence" States Mizuki.

"You're right" Nods Sokka as he blows soap bubbles with his dragon shaped pipe, while thinking about their next course of action.

"We need to go to Kyoshi Island" Says Sokka determined.

"I didn't even think of that" Mutters Mizuki surprised.

"Wait where did you get that?" Asks Katara as she looks at Sokka, who's blowing bubbles with a pipe.

❀❀❀

Aang, still cuffed, leans dispirited against the wall of the prison. An elephant rat sniffles his way over to an acorn. He picks it up and jumps away. A low voice emerges from the shadows at the other side of the prison.

"You got a bald head" Aang looks up in wonder to see who's talking. A man is standing in the shadows, only his outline is visible. "And some nice tattoos" The man emerges from the shadows. He has a strong build, earrings in both ears, and his body has a large snake tattoo that covers the top of his chest and down his right arm. He suddenly charges Aang, letting out a load growl. He is stopped in his tracks by the chains around his neck. Aang slides down the wall in fear, while the man addresses him calmly. "You're going to fit in real well around here" Grins the man, earning an awkward smile from Aang.

❀❀❀

Sokka, Katara, and Mizuki are sitting on Appa's back as they arrive at their destination; Kyoshi island. A man in the watchtower signals the approach of Appa by ringing a bell. Two laughing, little children make their way to great Appa and his riders. Appa lands right in front of the large, wooden statue of Kyoshi which is completely rebuilt. When Appa touches the ground, everyone in the village has gathered around to great them. They are all clapping as the foaming mouth guy makes it to the front. He sees Appa and all he can do is squeal. He gestures toward Appa in wonder, before letting out a load squeal and starts to foam before fainting. Some of the villagers look at him while doing his thing, feeling awkward. Team Avatar waves at the people. Koko, who was standing in the front with her hands raised high, notices that something is off.

"Where's Aangy?" Says Koko angrily while stamping her foot on the ground.

"He couldn't be here, Koko" Informs Katara as the villagers sigh in disappointment.

"I wanted to see Aangy" Complains the little girl. Suddenly, a man approaches the teenagers. Katara is quick to recognize the man.

"Oyaji! Aang is in jail. The town of Chin says he murdered their leader in a past life" Explains Katara.

"They say it was Kyoshi" Says Sokka.

"Kyoshi? That's crazy talk! I'll take you to her shrine. Maybe something there will help you clear her name" Replies Oyaji, who's slightly shocked by the news. They all start walking towards the shrine.

"So, uh...what's Suki up to? Is she around?" Asks Mizuki shyly.

"Actually, she and the other warriors left to fight in the war. You kids had a big impact on Suki. She said you inspired her and she wanted to help change the world" Informs Oyaji.

"Oh, well. That's great" Says Mizuki, who's a bit worried about her friend Suki and the kyoshi warriors. I know they're trained warriors, but still. It's not safe anywhere these days.

"This temple was converted into a shrine to Kyoshi. The clerics tell us these relics are still connected to her spirit. That's her kimono" Oyaji points at Kyoshi's green kimono.

"She had exquisite taste" Points out Katara as she carefully touches the clothing.

"Please don't touch!" Warns Oyaji as Katara quickly lets go of the robe.

"These fans, they were her weapons, no?" Asks Mizuki as she grabs the fan and examines it. I remember my dad telling me how fans can strengthen your airbending. My airbending's pretty bad, maybe I should get some fans. It would be useful and they don't look like weapons at all. I could easily sneak them anywhere and-

"Also refrain from touching the fans" Scolds Oyaji.

"My apologies" Sweatdrops Mizuki.

"These were her boots? Her feet must have been enormous!" Katara points at a really big pair of brown boots. Suddenly, Momo peeks out one of them.

"Momo I told you to stay with Appa!" Grunts Mizuki annoyed, causing Katara to chuckle.

"The biggest of any Avatar" Grins Oyaji proudly.

"Wait a minute...big feet?" Mumbles Katara as she realizes something. The footprint they saw at the edge of the cliff outside Chin village, was a lot smaller. It couldn't have been Kyoshi's footprint.

"There's no way" Mutters Mizuki amazed.

"Special outfit? Hat and pipe? These things mean anything to you?" States Sokka annoyed.

"You're right. I'm sorry" Says Katara sarcastically before bowing. "Please, go on" She says mockingly. Sokka sighs angrily before dramatically raising his hand in the air.

"Aha! There's no way Kyoshi could have made that footprint. And therefore there is nothing linking her to the crime scene" Exclaims Sokka.

"Brilliant, Sokka" Replies Katara unimpressed before rolling her eyes.

To be continued

Word count: 1.304