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

  I made up my mind. “We’ll find them.”

  “Where are they?” Katara yelled.

  I couldn’t see the fishing boat anywhere. We were

  flying miles from shore through the storm. Pummeling

  rain stung my skin and lightning crackled through

  the sky. Suddenly a monstrous wave loomed over us.

  I pulled on Appa’s reins. “Yip-yip!” He banked

  upward, trying to fly over the wave. I can always

  count on Appa to come through for me. But the wave

  kept growing higher and higher. Katara and I ducked

  our heads as Appa broke through the crest.

  We burst through the other side and rose above

  the turbulent ocean. Salt water stung my eyes.

  Lightning flashed twice ahead of us. I saw a small

  object floating in the distance. We had found Sokka

  and the fisherman, and just in time.

  The tiny fishing boat was no match for the fierce

  sea. Waves crashed over the deck, pounding it like a

  hammer. I was afraid it was going to sink before we

  could reach them.

  Sokka and the fisherman clung desperately to a

  pile of rope on deck. I guided Appa toward the boat

  and jumped aboard. The boat rocked so much, I

  almost fell into the ocean.

  Lightning struck the mast, and the heavy wooden

  pole started to fall toward us. I bent a rush of air at

  the mast and it crashed onto the deck next to us.

  “Hold on!” I yelled. Sokka and the fisherman

  caught the end of the rope I threw to them. As I

  jumped into Appa’s saddle, I snapped the rope like a

  whip, yanking them aboard.

  In my rush to rescue Sokka and the fisherman,

  I’d ignored the ocean. Once again, the shadow of

  an immense wave fell over us. This time we couldn’t

  avoid it.

  The wave crested and crashed against Appa. We

  were thrown into the surging ocean. I almost froze at

  the shock of the cold water!

  I thought about the storm from my past—the storm

  in my nightmares that had frozen me for a hundred

  years. I wasn’t going to let anyone down this time.

  I wasn’t going to run away. Gathering my last strength,

  I fought the current, pushing at the water to create an

  air bubble around me.

  I made a wider arc with my arms, enlarging the

  bubble so that it encircled all of us. We could breathe

  now. We climbed aboard Appa while the ocean

  pounded against our bubble.

  I guided Appa through the swirling water to the

  eye of the storm, where the sea was calm. We emerged

  from the water and flew above the clouds into the

  clear blue sky.

  “All right!” Sokka yelled.

  I looked below us and almost gasped. We had

  made it! We were safe!

  As Appa swooped through the air, we narrowly

  avoided a small Fire Nation ship—and at the helm

  was Prince Zuko, who had been trying to capture me

  for weeks! For a moment I was afraid he might decide

  to pursue us. But I could tell from the look in his

  eyes that he knew his men needed him to lead them

  through the storm. We looked at each other for a split

  second, and in that one moment, I felt that we were

  almost kindred spirits.

  A few minutes later we were back on land and the

  storm was over. The fisherman’s wife rushed toward

  us and hugged her husband.

  I turned to Katara. “You were right. I’m done

  dwelling on the past. I can’t make guesses about how

  things would have turned out if I hadn’t run away,”

  I said. “I’m here now and I have a job to do.”

  I was the Avatar and I knew I could do good things

  for people.

  The fisherman held out his hand. “If you weren’t

  here now, Avatar, then I guess I wouldn’t be either.

  Thank you for saving my life.”

  “I don’t think you’re going to have those nightmares

  anymore,” Katara said to me.

  I didn’t think so either. My new life had begun.

  The Air Nomads were

  led by an order of monks.

  The monks taught the future

  generations of Airbenders.

  They were also responsible for

  training the new Avatar each

  time the cycle returned to Air.

  Many of the monks, like Monk

  Gyatso, were also excellent

  bakers! They made fruit pies,

  delicious dumplings, and many

  kinds of inventive desserts.

  AIR NOMAD MONKS

  Here is the information I have

  managed to gather concerning Air Nomad

  monks, as well as my comparison of Aang

  and his mortal enemy, Prince Zuko.

  MONK GYATSO

  The monks lived in four temples,

  all at high altitudes. There are temples

  located at each compass point—

  north, south, east, and west. Air

  Nomads not linked to a temple had

  no permanent home and roamed the

  world individually or in groups.

  LOCATION

  Meditation was an important

  part of Airbenders’ daily

  routines. It helped them

  focus their energy and

  understand the power of

  the air.

  MEDITATION

  One must master Airbending to earn the arrow

  tattoos. To do this, an Airbender must invent a new

  move and pass the thirty-six levels of Airbending.

  Though Aang had only reached the thirty-fifth level

  before he left the Jongmu Temple, his invention of

  the Air Scooter earned him his tattoos early.

  At an early age, Aang was able to pick out the

  Avatar relics, toys that had belonged to the previous

  Air Nomad Avatars. This convinced the monks that

  he was the reincarnated spirit of the Avatar.

  LEVELS OF AIRBENDING

  IDENTIFYING THE AVATAR

  According to Airbender custom, monks tell the

  Avatar of his status on his sixteenth birthday. Only

  then can his training officially begin. Aang was told

  early, at age twelve, because the monks were afraid

  that Fire Lord Sozin was preparing for war and they

  needed the Avatar’s help.

  TRAINING THE AVATAR

  The Avatar is the human incarnation of the

  spirit of the planet. When an Avatar dies, his spirit

  is reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar

  Cycle: Water, Earth, Fire, Air.

  For example, Avatar Roku was

  a Firebender
. When he died,

  his spirit passed to Aang, an

  Airbender. When Aang dies, his

  spirit will pass to a Waterbender,

  then to an Earthbender.

  Upon the death of an Avatar,

  bending masters from the next

  nation begin to look for the

  Avatar reincarnate.

  The Avatar is the only

  person who can bend all four

  elements—Water, Earth, Fire,

  and Air—and his job is to keep

  the four nations in harmony

  with one another. The Avatar

  must master his own bending

  element before he can train

  with masters of the remaining

  elements.

  THE AVATAR CYCLE

  WATER

  AIR

  Past Avatars like Roku and Kyoshi are honored

  with statues in the Southern Air Temple and their

  respective nations. There have been both male and

  female Avatars throughout history.

  AVATARS BEFORE AANG

  EARTH

  FIRE

  When his eyes turn white hot and his tattoos glow

  and pulse, Aang has entered the Avatar state. The Avatar

  state is triggered by extreme physical or emotional

  stress. In this way, the Avatar can

  send a kind of psychic distress

  signal to his spirit. All the past

  Avatars can help Aang in this way,

  enhancing his strength and power.

  The Avatar state kept Aang alive in

  the iceberg for one hundred years.

  THE AVATAR STATE

  Though they are on opposite sides of

  Fire Lord Sozin’s war, Aang and Zuko

  have many similarities. Both are on their

  own, but do have father figures. Aang

  was taken from his parents when they

  discovered he was the Avatar, but Monk

  Gyatso took him under his wing. Prince

  Zuko’s father, Fire Lord Ozai, banished

  him from the Fire Nation for daring to

  disagree with his policies, but Uncle Iroh

  keeps an eye on his fiery nephew.

  Aang and Zuko also have shameful pasts.

  They both have to live with the guilt of

  disappointing the people they cared about

  the most. Aang is marked by the

  traditional Airbender tattoos, and

  Zuko was scarred in a duel with his

  father. Aang and Zuko have

  companions on their opposing

  quests. Zuko and Aang are both benders

  who are fighting for something:

  Aang fights to save the world;

  Zuko fights to save his honor.

  Before the war broke out,

  Aang used to have many

  Firebender

  friends,

  but

  Zuko has only just met Aang;

  Aang is interested in Zuko as

  a person, but Zuko only sees

  Aang as a means to regain his

  honor.

  “Sokka, do you really think we’ll find

  Airbenders?” Katara whispered.

  My sister is a total optimist. I tend to

  see things a

  little more clearly. “Do you

  want me to be like you, or totally honest?”

  I replied. Katara and I were on our way

  to the Northern Air Temple with

  our friend Aang. A man had

  told us he’d seen Airbenders

  there. Supposedly Aang

  was the last Airbender,

  but he and Katara

  were hoping that the

  rumor was true.

  I guess that

  makes

  both

  of

  them total optimists.

  Appa soared through

  the clouds as he climbed

  higher into the sky. Then

  the temple appeared,

  shrouded in mist on a high

  mountaintop.

  This tale was passed down from the young warrior

  Sokka, who details his role in a battle against the Fire

  Nation.

  Its stone spires poked through the clouds and into

  the sky. It was quite impressive, if you like that kind

  of thing. But I was more impressed by the people who

  swooped through the air around it.

  “Those guys are flying!” I said, amazed. Katara was

  right—she would never let me hear the end of this.

  “Oh, Aang! They really

  are Airbenders!” she said.

  Aang’s smile faded. “No, they’re not.”

  “What do you mean?” I said.

  “I can tell by the way they move, they’re not

  Airbending,” Aang said sadly.

  One of the gliders flew past us in a chairlike

  contraption. “Hi, I’m Teo!” He waved at us as he

  passed by. What a show-off.

  Aang leaped from the bison and snapped open his

  staff, catching a rush of air to fly alongside Teo. They

  swooped and looped under and around us, keeping

  pace with each other.

  “Maybe we’d better find some solid ground before

  it finds us,” I suggested. Katara and I guided Appa

  down to the temple grounds, where a crowd of excited

  kids watched Aang and Teo soaring side by side.

  Teo swooped higher into the air. He did a series

  of tumbles that brought him back to eye level with

  Aang, except that Teo was now upside down! Then

  Aang flew into a big loop, ending with a series of flips.

  Teo and Aang were showing off, but it was great to

  watch.

  Aang banked and soared toward the temple and

  landed next to me.

  Teo dropped from the air like a falling feather. His

  speed and twirling increased until he was a spinning

  blur. As he approached the temple, he grabbed

  a banner pole. He swung on it several times and

  landed right in front of us. The wheels on his glider

  skidded to a stop.

  I noticed then that Teo’s legs were wrapped in

  white cloth: He couldn’t walk. That made his flying

  ability even

  more impressive.

  “Hey, you’re a real Airbender,” Teo said to Aang.

  “You must be the Avatar! I’ve heard stories about

  you.”

  While Teo and Aang got acquainted, I studied

  Teo’s chair. Its mechanics were amazing! Whoever

  designed it sure knew a lot about air currents.

  Teo saw me examining the glider. “If you think

  that’s good,” he said, “wait until you see all the other

  stuff my dad has invented.”

  I could hardly wait!

  I stood, speechless,
inside the hall of the Air

  Temple—an enormous room filled with whizzing,

  whirring machines. Large wooden wheels rotated,

  pulling giant ropes. Steam pipes jutted from the

  cracked plaster walls. A complex elevator system

  carried people from one level to the next using steam

  and pulleys. I had never seen anything like it.

  “My dad is the mastermind behind this whole

  place,” said Teo.

  “Unbelievable,” Aang said.

  “Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it?” Teo smiled with pride.

  “No, just unbelievable.” Aang turned and walked

  away.

  “Aang used to come here a long time ago,” Katara

  explained to Teo. “I think he’s a little shocked it’s so .

  . . different.”

  “So better!” I added. And it was too. Teo’s dad was

  a genius! I couldn’t wait to meet him.

  Teo smiled and

  nodded.

  “What

  the

  doodle?” said Teo’s

  dad, the Mechanist,

  as he rushed over to

  us. He looked like an

  owl, with his shock

  of brown hair, patchy

  eyebrows, and a thin

  red scar around one

  eye. This was a true man of science.

  Too bad Aang didn’t see it that way. “This is a

  sacred temple!” he said. “You can’t do this. I was here

  a long time ago, and I know what it’s supposed to be

  like!” Aang was still getting used to the new world

  around him, realizing just how much the Fire Nation

  has changed everything.

  Teo’s father studied Aang for a few seconds,

  examining the arrow tattoo on his bald head. I knew

  he was trying to figure out how a kid could have seen

  the temple as it used to be. I think sometimes Aang

  forgets that normal

  people don’t get frozen in icebergs