ATLA: Book Three: Fire [Makki]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: The Order of the White Lotus

Makki |~|

The night had passed quickly, and now, all of use were preparing for our departure for the Fire Nation to end the Fire Lord.

"Okay, that's everything!" Sokka announced after checking our supplies.

"No, it's not. Where's Aang?" Toph asked.

We all shared a confused look before running around the house, looking for the Avatar.

"Aang?" Zuko called as we ran up the stairs. "Aang!"

"Come on, lazy bones, let's go!" Toph yelled.

There was no response. We all split up and quickly searched around the beach house.

"He left his staff," Sokka said as we all met up on one of the balconies. "That's so strange."

"Aang's not in the house. Let's check the beach," said Zuko.

When we made it out of the beach house, we found a trail of footprints that led straight into the ocean.

"Look! There's his footprints," Sokka pointed. "The trail ends here."

"So, he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asked.

"Maybe he was captured," said Katara.

"But wouldn't there be more than one pair of footprints?" I asked.

"She's right, there should be signs of a struggle but there isn't," Sokka explained.

"I bet he ran away again," said Toph.

"Nuh-uh. He left his glider and Appa," Sokka disagreed.

"Then what do you think happened to him, oh, sleuthy one?" Toph frowned.

"It's pretty obvious," said Sokka. "Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle? He's definitely on a spirit world journey."

"But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that..."

"Then he's gotta be somewhere on Ember Island," said Katara. "Let's split up and look for him."

"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph exclaimed as she hugged Zuko's arm.

We all gave her a quizzical glance as Zuko blushed.

"What?" Toph asked. "Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn."

"...Um, all right," Sokka drawled. "So, Zuko and Toph will search the shore, Katara and Suki will search in the town on Ember Island, and Makki and I will take Appa to search the water. Let's go."

Everyone quickly split up and began to search. As Sokka flew Appa over the water of the beach, I used my water bending to glide across the water to get a clearer view. About an hour of searching passed before we knew that we searched everywhere that we could, so we met up with everyone else back at the beach house.

"Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you guys didn't find Aang, either," Sokka said as he landed Appa in front of everyone.

"No," Zuko stated as Sokka and I dismounted. "It's like he just... disappeared."

"Hey, wait a minute," said Toph. "Has anyone noticed that Momo is missing, too?"

"Oh, no!" Sokka yelled. "I knew it was only a matter of time! Appa ate Momo! Momo, I'm coming for you, buddy!"