ATLA- Faith's Story

Chapter 5: Avatar Day

The gang is sleeping peacefully, except for Momo. Sokka's mouth is open. A spider has set up its web over his mouth. Momo discovers the spider and inspects it with great interest. When a fly lands on the web, Momo tries to grab it. As he plunges his hand completely in Sokka's mouth, Sokka opens his eyes immediately in surprise. He shoots up and starts to spit out the remains of the spider and its web.

Sokka: (Angrily.) What are you doing in my mouth? (Momo chitters happily while lying upside down on Sokka's belly, chewing on the fly he "rescued" from the spider's web.) Momo, you need to be a little more sensitive to my boundaries.

The lemur seems to notice something else on his left. He completely ignores Sokka's comment and climbs on his face, where he erects himself and pricks up his ears to determine what it is he heard. He chitters loudly, waking up Katara, who was sleeping on a nearby sawed off tree trunk. Faith soon wakes up besides Katara holding onto Melody. Aang is still sleeping soundly on Appa's forearm. He wakes up as the ground begins to shake. Kahchi, sitting atop a rhino, jumps out of the thicket. Katara gasps as two more emerge from the bushes on the other side of the camp.

Mongke: (Shouting from up above as he looks over the campsite.) Give up! You're completely surrounded!

Four rhinos are circling around the gang. Vachir fires two flaming arrows toward Sokka, who was trying to crawl away like a caterpillar in his sleeping bag. The arrows pin the back of the sleeping bag to the ground while Sokka crawls out. He moves out of the path of a third arrow just in time.

Sokka: (Crawling toward Appa.) Come on! Come on! Come on!

Sokka climbs aboard Appa, where Aang's already waiting for him. Katara and Faith make their way toward Appa. Just before Katara reaches him, she stops in her tracks and turns around. Kahchi spins his Guan Dao around and plants it in the sawed of tree trunk Katara was sleeping on a bit earlier. Next to the tree trunk lie some of Team Avatar's supplies.

Katara: My scrolls!

Aang: (Shocked.) My staff!

He jumps off Appa's head, while Sokka just manages to get on. Katara charges Kahchi with a water whip. She freezes the blade solid to the trunk, giving her the opportunity to grab the box of scrolls. She heads back toward Appa just as Kahchi manages to break his weapon free of the ice. Ogodei is swinging his chains around. He throws them around a tree and pulls it down to impede Aang's progress toward his staff. It has no effect, as Aang just somersaults over the fallen tree. Yeh-Lu ignites one of the hand grenades hanging on his belt. He throws it at Aang, who has reached his staff by now. The explosive lands right beside him, but the fuse is still burning. Aang swirls his staff around and knocks the explosive out of the way and into the woods. Aang propels himself into the air with airbending while the bomb explodes. He lands on Appa's head.

Aang: Yip yip!

Appa rises from the ground, leaving the Rough Rhinos behind. Mongke shoots a fire ball at them as they fly over. Katara and Sokka quickly duck and cover their heads, as the fire ball just misses them. As Sokka erects again, he notices something on the ground.

Sokka: (Stretching out his arm over the saddle as if he wants to grab it.) Wait, my boomerang!

Sokka's boomerang still lies in the middle of their besieged camp.

Katara: (Grabbing Sokka's arm.) There's no time!

Sokka: (Annoyed.) Oh, I see, (Turning to Katara.) so there's time to get your scrolls (Turning toward Aang.) and time to get your staff, (Looking back at Katara with his hand on his chest.) but no time for my boomerang?

Katara: (Cheerfully.) That's correct!

Sokka: (Bowing his head in defeat by this totally honest answer.) Oh.