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

  for a century at a time like him.

  “Dad, he’s the Avatar,” Teo explained. “He used

  to come here a hundred years ago.”

  “Who said you could live here?” Aang demanded.

  The Mechanist paced the stone floor. “A few years

  ago, my people had to flee a flood. I lost my wife, and

  Teo was badly hurt. We needed a place to rebuild.”

  “Of course!” I realized. “And it needed to be safe

  from floods, so you looked high in the mountains.”

  “That’s right!” he said. “I stumbled across this

  place. Couldn’t believe it. Pictures of flying people

  everywhere! But there was no one here.”

  He spread his arms out like wings. “Then I came

  across these flying machines.”

  “Our gliders,” Aang said.

  “Yes! They gave me an idea: Build a new life for

  my son . . . in the air! That way everyone would be on

  equal ground, so to speak.”

  Teo took Katara and Aang on a tour of the temple

  while the Mechanist showed me his workshop. What

  an operation! He was working on dozens of projects.

  Charts and scrolls were stuffed into every nook and

  cranny. The man had plans for machines that no one

  had thought of before. He showed me a prototype of

  a hot-air balloon that could carry a hen’s egg through

  the air. I felt privileged to get a glimpse of how this

  guy’s mind worked.

  A loud bell rang in the workshop. Alarmed,

  the Mechanist raced out the door. I followed right

  behind, hoping he would let me help him fix whatever

  invention wasn’t working.

  I could learn a lot from

  this guy.

  I caught up to the

  Mechanist at the entrance

  to the temple’s sanctuary.

  Aang, Katara, and Teo

  stood in the doorway,

  staring. Swords, arrows,

  spiked

  metal

  wheels,

  pieces of armor, and other

  weapons I didn’t recognize

  filled the large room. But I did recognize the Fire

  Nation insignia.

  “You make weapons for the Fire Nation!” I was

  stunned.

  Teo looked furiously at his father. “Explain this.

  Now.”

  The Mechanist looked trapped. He sighed.

  “A year after we moved here, Fire Nation soldiers

  found our settlement,” he said quietly. “You were

  too young to remember, Teo. They were going to

  destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded

  with them and they asked what I had to offer.” The

  Mechanist took a deep, sad breath. “I offered my

  services.”

  I couldn’t believe it. This genius was working for

  the Fire Nation! How could he do such a thing?

  “When are they coming back?” Aang asked sharply.

  “Soon,” the Mechanist said. “Very soon.”

  “You can’t give them more weapons,” Aang said.

  It was not a request. I couldn’t agree more, but the

  Fire Nation doesn’t take no for an answer. I knew we

  would have to fight them.

  Katara, Aang, Teo, and I stood on the balcony

  overlooking the mountains. The Fire Nation soldiers

  would arrive soon, and while the temple is a natural

  fortress, I doubted we could defeat them. “This is

  bad, very bad,” I said.

  “We can take them, Sokka,” Aang said. “We’ve

  done it before.”

  “I don’t think you understand, Aang,” I explained.

  “Teo’s dad told me the mountain is full of natural

  gas.” I pointed down a deep crevasse. “Just one spark

  of flame could send this whole place sky high. How

  can we stop Firebenders from Firebending?”

  “We can keep them away from the mountain. We

  have something they don’t.” Aang pointed to the sky.

  “Air power: We control the sky!”

  “He’s right,” Teo agreed. “We can win this.” I

  wasn’t so sure.

  The Mechanist joined us. “I have something in

  my workshop that can help.” He smiled at me, and

  I remembered something I had seen downstairs. We

  did have a chance!

  We were ready by the time the Fire Nation soldiers

  arrived. They marched single file up the steep

  mountain path, stomping their heavy boots into the

  packed snow.

  Aang and Teo attacked from the air, dropping

  stink, smoke, fire, and slime bombs from their gliders.

  The soldiers were pushed back down the mountain.

  Then Aang shot a current of air at the mountainside,

  creating an avalanche of snow. The pass was blocked.

  Score one for our side.

  But the soldiers had a way around it. Huge tanks

  rolled up the cliffs, spitting flames. It was time for me

  and the Mechanist to join the fight. I couldn’t wait!

  I tightened the valve on the giant Warballoon.

  It was just like the prototype I had seen in the

  workshop, only this model was one hundred feet high

  and carried something much more effective than eggs:

  a half dozen slime bombs hung from the side.

  Our balloon flew over the temple and the Fire

  Nation soldiers. They paid us no attention because

  the balloon was marked with the Fire Nation insignia.

  “They think we’re on their side,” the Mechanist

  said.

  “Then I guess they won’t expect this!” I cut one of

  the ropes. “Bombs away!”

  Bull’s-eye! The bomb splattered below us, covering

  the Fire Nation tanks and soldiers in sticky gunk.

  They froze in place, unable to move. I carefully cut

  the other bombs loose as we floated by. Each one

  found its mark, halting the tanks’ advance. We were

  winning, but more tanks kept coming and we had

  run out of bombs.

  “What are we going to do now?” I asked. The

  tanks were closing in on the temple. There had to be

  something we could do. I didn’t want to lose this battle.

  Down on the ground, I saw Aang twirling his

  staff, sending blasts of air at the tanks. The gusts flew

  under the machines and flipped them over, but he

  couldn’t hold them all off.

  “We’re losing,” I yelled. “What else do you have in

  your workshop?”

  “Not in my workshop, Sokka,” the Mechanist

  said. “Down there—the gas in the mountain!” He

  pointed to a fissure in the rocks below.

  Of course! That gave me an idea. I grabbed ourr />
  balloon’s heating unit and ripped it from the floor.

  “What are you doing? That’s our fuel source!” the

  Mechanist shouted.

  “It’s also the only bomb we’ve got left,” I explained.

  He smiled. We tossed the flaming fuel container

  over the side of the balloon and watched it crash into

  the fissure. Our aim was excellent!

  A huge explosion blew the Fire Nation tanks from

  the mountainside. Their metal shells collapsed into

  the valley below and were buried in a landslide.

  The Fire Nation was forced to retreat. Today was our

  day!

  Together, we had used science and invention to

  defeat the Fire Nation. But we had one more

  problem. Without its heating unit, our balloon was

  slowly falling from the sky toward the rocks below.

  “Hang on!” Aang leaped from the temple and

  hit the air. He steered his glider toward our sinking

  balloon.

  I looped a rope around my boomerang. When

  Aang flew past, I threw the boomerang around his

  glider. The Mechanist grabbed on to my end of the

  rope just as the rope tightened and pulled us from

  the balloon. Aang carried us to safety as our balloon

  crashed into the trees below.

  We all celebrated when we returned to the temple.

  The Fire Nation had been defeated for now. Teo’s

  people could live in peace, and his father wouldn’t

  have to work for the enemy anymore. The Mechanist

  would have more time to invent things for his own

  people.

  Aang took one last look around the temple. “I’m

  really glad you guys live here now,” he said to Teo.

  “Really?”

  Aang picked up a hermit crab that scrambled past

  his feet. “It’s like the hermit crab: Maybe you weren’t

  born here, but you found this empty shell and made

  it your home. And now you protect each other.”

  “That means a lot coming from the Avatar,” Teo

  said.

  “You were right about air power, Aang,”

  I told him. “As long as we’ve got the skies, we’ll have

  the Fire Nation on the run!”

  Though the Air Nomads appear to have been wiped

  from the Earth, elements of their legacy linger. The

  largest permanent structures they built were the four

  Air temples. Places for learning, quiet meditation, and

  the study and practice of Airbending, their grounds

  featured reflecting pools, grassy fields for outdoor

  games, gardens, historical murals, statues, and more.

  Time has changed their appearance and function.

  The uninhabited Southern Air Temple is now

  overgrown with vegetation. The Northern Air Temple

  is now occupied by a band of refugees from the Earth

  Kingdom who are remodeling the temple to suit their

  needs.

  Below is an outline of the remnants of the Air

  Nomad civilization and the ways in which they have

  changed over time.

  Airbenders derived their power from the air. They

  could channel a light breeze into the force of a tornado

  and ride air currents like they were flying. Air was the

  most important natural resource to Airbenders. Without

  air, they were powerless. With air under their control,

  they could protect and defend anyone, even against the

  Fire Nation.

  The

  Air

  Nomads were

  peaceful

  and

  environmentally friendly. They tried not to leave

  a mark on the land, and any

  industries they created, such

  as farming and gardening,

  were powered naturally.

  They also produced their own

  food.

  INDUSTRIES

  The Mechanist has taken

  over the Northern Air Temple

  for his fellow refugees and

  is remodeling it with his

  inventions.

  The

  Mechanist

  is

  good at lifting people to

  new heights. Inside the

  temple they can move

  quickly between levels by

  using the compressed-air

  elevator. Outside they can

  soar through the air in their

  custom-built gliders.

  Even his smallest inventions were designed

  to be useful. Notched candles filled with

  spark powder are clocks; they

  spark the time every hour.

  The

  Mechanist’s

  jointed

  wooden

  fingers replaced the

  ones he lost while

  making his finger-

  safe knife sharpener.

  Fireflies

  in

  paper

  lanterns are bright but,

  unlike torches, don’t use

  fire—very important in a mountain

  containing natural gas!

  THE MECHANIST’S

  INVENTIONS

  Larger inventions are

  just as practical, although

  they can sometimes be

  dangerous: The enormous,

  steam-powered telescope

  gave the Mechanist his

  trademark circular scar!

  Of all of the Mechanist’s

  creations, the Warballoon

  may be the greatest. Using

  hot air, it is able to fly long

  distances while carrying a

  heavy load of large slime

  bombs.

  THE POWER OF THE AIR

  should never be underestimated, especially

  when it’s in the hands of the last Airbender.

  From Jongmu to the Northern Air Temple, Aang

  had searched for his people, only to

  realize that he truly was the last of his kind.

  The defeat of the Fire Nation at the Northern

  Air Temple was only one victory in a larger war. The

  Fire Nation will continue its hunt for the Avatar and

  its quest for world domination, strengthened by the

  return of Sozin’s Comet, which is expected by the

  end of the summer. It is then that Fire Lord Ozai

  will use the comet’s immense power

  to finish the war once and for all.

  As I conclude and seal this scroll, Aang has

  already played a larger role in an epic battle, helping

  the Northern Water Tribe to defeat Admiral

  Zhao’s navy at the North Pole. The Fire Nation is

  regrouping, and Aang is on his way to mastering the

  three remaining elements: water, earth, and fire.


  This is all I know so far. Please do not show this

  scroll to anyone whose trustworthiness you doubt.

  The fate of the world is in your hands!