Chapter 19: Northern Air Temple

(Quick Authors note before the start of the chapter!... First, due to the stupidest of reasons, the job site I was working at wanted me removed, and I am currently waiting on re distribution, but that seems to not be happening anytime soon, so for now I'll have lots of time to get back into writing... And for money I'll probably do some Uber Eats or something... Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and I'll be trying to get as many as possible out today, so look forward to a big release!)

Upon seeing Aang and the boy in the handicap chair gliding through the air, Soren thought it looked fun, and went to one of the nearby children with gliders, and began speaking.

[Hey, do you think I could borrow that for a few minutes?]: soren

The kid Soren spoke to looked towards his gilder, then back to Soren, and upon seeing his bright smile, the kid lent his gilder to Soren.

[Here you go… Do you know how to use one?]: kid

Soren began walking over towards the edge of the building they were on, and upon looking over to see a flowing cloud, he spoke while taking the gilder in hand.

[Nope!... But there's always a first for everything!]: soren

Soren then jumped off the edge of the building and began plummeting straight down, before holding onto the gilder like the other kids flying around, and upon pulling up on the gilder, the constant updraft brought Soren and the glider flying up into the sky.

[Hey, this isn't so hard]: soren

Soren began testing different positions in which he shifted his body weight and found out that as long as there was a constant updraft, and you could control your body weight, flying around was quite simple.

'I guess Aang uses Airbending to keep a constant updraft when he's not in areas with his winds': soren

Soren then began exploring the skies around the air temple, while Aang, Katara, and Sokka were led around the air temple by the boy in the wheelchair. As Soren was flying around the outskirts of the temple, he noticed a large object that had a boulder connected to a rope, and as he got in to take a closer look, a giant gust of air shot out towards the giant contraption, making it fly towards his direction.

[Oh no…]: soren

Soren quickly shifted all of his body weight towards one side as he tried to make the glider quickly shift position and avoid the incoming object, but the shifting was too slow, making Soren resort to using his legs to send out a wave of fire that engulfed the contraption, burning it to a crisp, before he repositioned his weight and let the updraft take him up towards where the commotion came from.

[What the heck was that for, Aang!?]: soren

Upon landing and seeing Aang, Katara, Sokka, and a group of new individuals along with the boy in the wheelchair, Soren knew that the cause of the attack that could have taken his life was caused by Aang, and quickly started questioning his motives. Upon seeing Soren land, and seeing the direction he came from, Aang realized he might have caused a commotion for Soren, and quickly spoke up.

[Sorry, Soren… I lost my cool, and I ended up disregarding the possible consequences that came with my actions]: aang

[No problem, just try not to take me out, next time… Hehe]: soren

Upon seeing Soren laugh, a small smile began to appear on Aang's face, as the sadness and anger that began welling up inside due to seeing his history be destroyed.

[My, oh my!... Look at the time!... The pulleys must be oiled before dark!]: old man

[Wait… How can you tell the time by these candles?... They all look the same!]: sokka

[Well just watch, and you'll understand]: old man

Sokka then watched as the candle began to crackle and pop a total of four times, before the old man spoke up again.

[It popped a total of four times, meaning four past midday, or as I call it… 4 o candle… Hahaha!]: old man

[I see… You used spark powder in the candles!... That's genius!]: sokka

[Well if you like that, wait till you see my finger safe knife sharpener… Only took me 3 tries!... Hahaha!]: old man

Sokka was then led away, while Aang, Katara, and the boy named Teo began exploring more of the temple, while Soren left to return the glider to the kid he borrowed it from.

[I wonder if a lion turtle lives around here?... Probably not, as there are too many people here for it's secret to be kept]: soren

After returning the gilder to the boy who lent it to him, Soren begna exploring the temple by himself, as he used his fire to create a light that helped him see in the dark spaces.

[It's so dark in here… And the air seems to carry more moisture than normal]: soren

As Soren began walking further down the dark and damp passage, he stopped due to a sudden shout coming from behind.

[S-Stop!!... What are you doing!? Quickly! Disperse your flames, before you blow us all to kingdom come!]: ???

Soren quickly dispersed his flame when he heard the shouting, as he then turned to see the old man who claimed to be the boy in the wheelchair's father. And right behind the old man, Sokka appeared with a jumpy look, only to calm down when he saw that it was Soren.

[Soren! What are you doing down here?]: sokka

[You know this boy, Sokka?]: old man

[Of course I do! He's a friend!]: sokka

[I see… Then I have no problems with what just happened… Just be careful next time, okay?]: old man

[Sure thing!]: soren

[Then follow me! I'll be glad to show you around!]: old man

Soren then began following both Sokka and the old man as he was then given the tour of the temple in great detail, as the old man began explaining some of his future plans for remodeling the temple to accommodate his innovative mind, but the tour was cut short when an alarm began sounding, as the old man quickly ran off to check on the source of the alarm, as both Sokka and Soren followed. When they arrived, they were met with Aang, Katara, and the boy in the wheelchair, named Teo.

[What happened, what's going on!?]: sokka

[Oh no… You really shouldn't have seen this…]: old man

[You're working for the Fire Nation!!]: aang

Aang had spilled the beans, causing Sokka to gasp in astonishment as he quickly grabbed hold of Soren's arm and pulled him to the side as they both took a distance from the old man who had been accused as a Fire Nation ally.

[Dad… Is this all true?]: teo

[Oh no… You don't understand!... You can't understand]: old man

[Understand what?... We're reasonable people… Try to explain this situation that obviously makes you look like the bad guy]: soren

Soren spoke up, causing everyone to look towards him, before looking back towards the old man, and then he had everyone follow him back to his office for an explanation.

[You see, I was forced to do this… The Fire Nation… They attacked my people and caused the accident that led to Teo's disability… We tried running, and that's what led us here, but the Fire Nation followed us and threatened to destroy this new home if I didn't use my knowledge to invent and create new weapons for them… Please, you have to understand my predicament along with the stress I'm under]: old man

Aang looked away in pondering, as he understood the feeling of fear, and mixing it with the threat of loss made it all the worse, but letting this continue to happen would only make his job harder in the future, so he did the only sensible thing.

[When will the Fire Nation arrive to pick up the next shipment of weapons?]: aang

[They should be here at any time, now]: old man

Just as the old man spoke, a knock came to his office door, startling the group, and causing the old man to panic, as he didn't want the Avatar to be found, as he is the only hope for the future, and if he is found here, they would kill the Avatar and then destroy his home for housing the Avatar.

[Quickly! You must hide! If you're found here, we will all die!]: old man

The old man then moved his desk aside and opened a small wooden hatch that was meant for a quick escape in case the Fire Nation ever did plan to not keep their end of the deal. After hiding the group, another knock was heard on the door before the old man spoke up as he walked over to open the door and invite whoever was on the other side in.

[Coming!... I was just putting on some new fingers]: old man

The door opened, and in came a man dressed in a dark red and black armor suit. His face held an angry expression, as he was annoyed for the wait he had to endure, and his angered tone was all too obvious to that fact.

[You're lucky we still need you, old man… You better have the goods prepared, otherwise It will be quite the task to find someone so talented in the field of inventors to take your place after we massacre your little refuge hideout]: fire nation captain

[I-I have it!... I have it!... I just need a little more time to complete your entire order… Maybe another week or two?]: old man

[Another week?... I gave you a set time, and I expect the pder to be completed by that time, there is no room to negotiate a different time frame… Now, if you're telling me that you don't have my order complete, then what use are you to me?]: fire nation captain

As the angered captain finished his sentence, he held out his hand as a flame began to dance wildly upon the top of his hand.

[Please have mercy! Please don't kill me… I still have to raise my son!]: old man

[Don't worry, your crippled son will be joining you along with everyone else in this temple]: fire nation captain

Just as the captain finished his words, the hatch burst open with a gust of air, as Aang appeared, causing the captain to focus his anger on Aang, and everyone else who began emerging from the hatch.

[The Avatar!?... Old man, you were harboring the Avatar this entire time, and you didn't tell me?... Shame, there could have been some hope for you, but now I'll be informing my men to report this to the commander and we'll see if the Avatar and friends can escape then]: fire nation captain

[Who said you can leave?]: soren

Soren then used Earthbending to surround the captain in the stone from the floor, causing him to be immobilized.

[Oh?... Hahahaha!... You're being foolish now… You see… If I do not return in 30 minutes, my men will assume that I've been captured or harmed, and they will begin raiding this place… Now it's just a waiting game, Avatar… What will you do?]: fire nation captain

[He's right… If we don't do something now, we will be sentencing these people to death… There's gotta be a way to fight the Fire Nation and keep them away from the temple]: katara

[Hahaha! You fools, you'll never wi-]: fire nation captain

[Shut it, loud mouth!]: soren

Soren then used his Earthbending to bend the stone to bind the captain's mouth shut so no words could be heard from him, giving Aang and the others time to think.

[There is no peaceful path out of this… We'll need to fight our way out]: sokka

[Then fighting it is… Do you have a plan?]: soren

[I may have a few]: sokka

Sokka began rubbing his nose as he felt proud to be asked for his idea on the matter, and like that, a plan was made and put into action, while the Fire Nation captain had been knocked out. Soren was then tasked to distract the Fire Nation soldiers using their captain's uniform while Sokka and the others prepared the counter attack. Upon exiting the air temple, Soren stood before the battalion of Firebenders and spoke in a gruff tone.

[Soldiers!... It's time to return!]: soren