The Lost Scrolls: Air (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Read online

  by Tom Mason and Dan Danko

  illustrated by Shane L. Johnson

  Based on screenplays by Tim Hedrick,

  Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino,

  Brian Konietzko, and John O’Bryan.

  © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon,

  Nickelodeon Avatar: The Last Airbender and all related titles, logos and

  characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

  Based on the TV series Nickelodeon Avatar: The Last Airbender ™

  IF YOU ARE READING THIS,

  you have uncovered one of the four hidden scrolls

  I have compiled about the world of Avatar. This

  scroll contains sacred stories, legends, and facts

  that I have gathered so far about the mysterious

  Air Nomads—their history, their culture, and the

  great tales of their past. I hope that this information

  will be as useful and intriguing to you as it is to me.

  As a guardian of the Air Nomads’ legacy, I ask

  that you keep this scroll safe and share it only

  with those you trust. Beware, for there are

  many who wish to expose its secrets. . . .

  Water.

  Earth.

  Fire.

  Air.

  These are the four nations of our world and the

  four elements that bind it together.

  A few select people of each nation possess the

  ability to manipulate their native element. They call

  themselves Waterbenders, Earthbenders, Firebenders,

  and Airbenders.

  The most powerful bender in the world is the

  Avatar, the spirit of the planet incarnate. Master of

  all four elements, he maintains world order and keeps

  the planet balanced and peaceful.

  The four nations lived together in harmony until

  the death of the last Avatar, Avatar Roku. Seizing the

  opportunity before the next Avatar—

  an Airbender—could be found and trained, Fire Lord

  Sozin led the Fire Nation on a global campaign to

  wipe out the three other nations.

  Only the next Avatar can stop the Fire Nation

  from conquering the planet, but most people believe

  he had disappeared during the war on the Air Nomads.

  One hundred years after Avatar Roku’s death,

  two teenage siblings have made a discovery that will

  forever change the destiny of the world: They have

  found a twelve-year-old boy frozen in an iceberg. His

  name is Aang, and he is the last Airbender known to

  be alive. He is also the world’s last hope for peace and

  harmony.

  He is . . . the Avatar.

  My name is Katara

  and my friend Aang

  is the Avatar. It’s

  his job to save the

  world, and it’s

  my job— and

  my brother’s,

  too—to help him.

  Of course, I don’t

  know how to do that,

  so I’m hoping it’s

  something I can learn

  along the way.

  My brother, Sokka,

  and I are members of

  the Southern Water Tribe.

  We found Aang frozen in

  an iceberg at the South Pole

  where we lived. Can you

  believe that?

  A frozen boy!

  Waterbender Katara, who recounts a tale of

  dashed hopes and enduring faith.

  When the Fire Nation launched their war more

  than one hundred years ago, the first people they

  attacked were the Air Nomads. No one had seen an

  Airbender since then.

  Aang was an Air Nomad and the only one I’d

  ever met. I thought he was the last Airbender on the

  planet, but I didn’t want to tell him that right away.

  You don’t just wake up someone from a block of ice

  and tell him everyone he ever knew is gone.

  Aang had been raised at the Southern, Jongmu Air

  Temple. Now he wanted to see what had happened

  to it and the other Airbenders he had known. We

  began our journey to the temple like we usually do,

  riding through the air on Aang’s flying bison, Appa.

  I have no idea how we’d get around without Appa!

  Eventually, the temple appeared on the snow-

  covered mountain ahead of us. One hundred years

  ago, when Aang lived here, it must have been beautiful.

  Now it just looked forgotten. The stone walls were

  covered in thick vines and overgrown plants. I didn’t

  think anyone had been there for a long time.

  “Aang, I just want you to be prepared for what you

  might find here,” I said. “The Fire Nation is ruthless.

  They killed my mother. They could have done the

  same to your people.” I didn’t want Aang to get his

  hopes up.

  “Relax, Katara,” said Aang. “Just because no one

  has seen an Airbender doesn’t mean that the Fire

  Nation killed them all. Besides, the only way to get to

  an Airbender temple is on a flying bison. And I doubt

  the Fire Nation has one.”

  Aang was so confident, but I still had a bad feeling

  about this trip. He hadn’t really seen what the Fire

  Nation could do—what it had been doing for a

  century. Destruction was the Fire Nation’s favorite

  pastime.

  “So, where do I get something to eat around

  here?” my brother said, obviously unconcerned about

  anything else.

  “Sokka, you’re lucky enough to be one of the first

  outsiders to ever visit an Airbender temple, and all

  you can think about is food?” I

  scolded him.

  “I’m just a simple guy with

  simple needs,” he replied.

  Sometimes Sokka’s a little

  too

  simple!

  “C’mon! We have a whole

  temple to see!” Aang raced

  ahead of us and disappeared

  inside. Food would have to

  wait! Sokka kicked absently

  at a cluster of vines, pushing

  them out of his way.

  “Hey, check this out, Katara.” Sokka pointed at

  his feet. There was a tattered Fire Nation flag and two

  rusty Firebender helmets on the ground.

  I knew it! They had been here! This
was not good.

  “Katara, you have to tell Aang,” said Sokka.

  I shook my head. There was no way I was going

  to tell him. I remembered how I had felt when I lost

  my mother, and I wanted to protect Aang from that

  kind of pain.

  “Hey, guys!” Aang called from somewhere above

  us. “Over here! I want you to meet somebody!”

  Somebody? Who could it be?

  Inside the temple, Aang stood in front of a decaying

  wooden statue of a monk with a bald head and a

  long mustache. The monk had an arrow tattoo on

  his head just like Aang’s—he was an Airbender too.

  Aang bowed to the statue.

  “Who’s that?” Sokka asked.

  “Monk Gyatso!” Aang said, rising. “The greatest

  Airbender in the world. He taught me everything

  I know. He told me that my questions about being

  the Avatar would be answered when I was old enough

  to enter the Airbender sanctuary. I’m ready now.”

  The sanctuary lay behind two large doors that

  were splintered and worn with age. Gnarled vines

  strangled the hinges and covered the doors’ ornate,

  horn-shaped carvings. I don’t think anyone had

  opened the doors in a long time. I hated to imagine

  what Aang was going to find inside.

  “No one could have survived in this sanctuary for

  a hundred years,” I said.

  “It’s not impossible,” Aang replied. “I survived in

  the iceberg for that long.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Aang wasn’t the only

  one to survive that long either. Appa had survived

  with him. If a twelve-year-old Airbender and a flying

  bison could still be alive, who was I to disagree?

  “Whoever’s in here might help me figure out this

  Avatar thing,” Aang added. “They could tell me what

  I’m supposed to do and how I’m supposed to do it.”

  Sokka tried the doors, but they wouldn’t budge.

  “I don’t suppose you have a key?”

  Aang laughed. “The key is Airbending.” He thrust

  his hands forward and steadied his feet on the ground,

  bending his knees slightly. Wind swirled around his

  arms as he took a deep breath. Air surged into the

  two horn-shaped carvings on the door. Three clicks

  sounded from the turning locks and the doors creaked

  open.

  “Hello? Is anyone home?” Aang’s voice echoed in

  the sanctuary.

  It was spooky. A chill shivered through my body.

  In front of us were hundreds of large, wooden statues.

  They encircled the room on multiple levels, floor to

  ceiling.

  “Aang, who are all these people?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure, but I feel like I know them somehow.”

  Aang pointed to the statue in front of him. “Look,

  this one’s an Airbender, just like me.”

  The one in front of me was a Waterbender.

  “They’re lined up in a pattern: Air, Water, Earth,

  Fire.”

  “That’s the Avatar cycle,” Aang pointed out.

  “They’re Avatars!” I realized. “Aang, these people

  are your past lives.”

  Aang was awestruck. His eyes scanned the countless

  statues. “So many . . .”

  “Past lives?” Sokka looked at me skeptically. “Oh

  please, Katara. Do you really believe in that stuff?”

  I did believe it because it’s true. “When the Avatar

  dies, he’s reincarnated into the next nation in the

  cycle.” Looking around the room, I could see there

  had been a lot of Avatars before Aang.

  Aang examined a statue of a bearded Firebender

  with long, flowing hair. A glimmer of white light

  passed over the statue’s eyes.

  “Aang, who

  is that?” I asked.

  “That’s Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me.”

  “You were a Firebender in your past life?” Sokka

  asked. “No wonder I didn’t trust you when we met.”

  A long shadow fell across the floor. It looked like

  a Firebender with a spiked helmet. They must still be

  here!

  “Firebender!” Sokka whispered. He pulled us

  behind one of the statues as the shadow moved closer.

  Sokka whipped out his boomerang, ready to attack.

  The shadow moved closer and was nearly upon us.

  My heart thumped loudly in my chest. Could we

  really fight a Firebender on our own?

  Sokka leaped out, ready to fight . . . a lemur! What

  a relief!

  The startled lemur jumped into the air and flew

  out of the sanctuary window.

  “Bet you didn’t know they could fly!” Aang said

  as he snapped open his wooden staff and converted

  it into glider form. He chased the lemur out of the

  sanctuary with Sokka racing close behind him. I

  wanted to join in the fun, but I had a lot of things

  on my mind. I stared into Avatar Roku’s blank eyes

  in silence, thinking about what Aang had told us.

  What had Monk Gyatso meant when he told Aang

  about the sanctuary? I knew the key lay in the Avatar

  statues. A cold wind blew through the sanctuary

  doors and I shivered again. I looked around the

  sanctuary—it was filled with a powerful white light!

  The eyes of all the Avatar statues were glowing!

  I could tell that something powerful was happening

  to the Avatar spirit. I raced from the sanctuary and

  into the temple courtyard, looking for Aang.

  An icy wind caught me by surprise. Aang had

  created a windstorm! His feet were braced on the

  ground, spread wide, and his eyes and tattoos glowed

  like the statues inside. I’d never seen Aang like this

  before. His arms swirled around him, gathering the

  air. A huge blast of wind shot from his hands and

  knocked Sokka backward to the ground!

  “Aang!” Sokka’s voice trailed off into the wind.

  “Come on, snap out of it!”

  I fought my way through

  the freezing wind, dodging

  flying tree branches and

  broken vines. “Sokka! What

  happened?”

  Sokka crawled to me.

  “Aang

  found

  out the

  Firebenders were here, and

  that they killed Gyatso,” he

  yelled. “Then he just started

  freaking out!”

  “It’s his Avatar spirit—the

  shock must have triggered

  it!” I yelled. The spirits of the previous Avatars had

  joined together to give Aang all t
his power. “I’m

  going to try to calm him down!”

  A tree branch whipped past Sokka’s head. “Well,

  do it before he blows us off the mountain!”

  Aang didn’t have the full abilities of an Avatar, but

  he was already pretty powerful—powerful enough to

  hurt us if I wasn’t careful.

  I struggled to walk through the strong winds

  toward Aang. Even though the currents blew me off

  balance, I knew I had to talk to him. “Aang! I know

  how hard it is to lose the people you love. . . .” I hoped

  my voice was strong enough to pierce the wind and

  reach him. “Monk Gyatso and the other Airbenders

  may be gone, but you still have a family.” We had

  only known each other a short time, but we shared a

  strong bond. I hoped Aang felt the same way.

  The winds died down. Aang could hear me and

  I moved closer to him. “Sokka and I,

  we’re your

  family now.”

  “Yeah, and we’re not going to let anything happen

  to you,” Sokka added. “Promise.”

  The winds ceased. Swirls of debris fell to the

  ground around us. I ran to Aang. The glow from his

  eyes and tattoos faded away and he slumped into my

  arms, exhausted.

  “I’m . . . I’m sorry,” Aang said. His voice was

  hoarse.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “If Firebenders found this Air temple, that means

  they found the other ones, too. I really am the last

  Airbender.” I had never seen Aang so sad or heard

  his voice so soft before. All of his usual liveliness was

  gone.

  We visited the temple sanctuary one last time.

  Aang stood in front of the statue of Avatar Roku,

  waiting for some sign, some clue about his future.

  “Any luck?” I was hoping that something would

  happen.

  “Not a peep,” Aang replied. “How is Roku