Hello, Drinor here. I'm happy to publish a new Chapter of The Last Woodbender.
If you want to Read Six Chapters Right Now. Write 'www.Patreon.com/Drinor' in the Websearch.
The following 6 chapters are already available to Patrons.
Chapter 43 (Between a Rock and a Hard Place), Chapter 44 (I wish for another Day), Chapter 45 (The Last Happy Day), Chapter 46 (A Knife in the Darkness), Chapter 47 (Innocence is Dead), and Chapter 48 (Breaking Apart) are already available for Patrons.
"You know, this feels like the old times once again." Sokka said jokingly as he cleaned the house with Aang. The latter looked up at him in confusion.
"Old Times?"
"Yeah, we are once again hiding away from our enemies, but ironically, Ba Sing Se, the place we all thought safe, is hunting us down like dogs." Sokka clarified with a wave of his hand, sounding irritated; the napkin he was holding moved around.
Aang could see the logic in what he was saying as he used his Airbending to blow out the layer of dirt from every surface of the room around them; the dirt flew high in the air like an ugly cloud. Katara, who was nearby, quickly used the water from her skin bottle to collect all the dirt, mixing the dirt and the water, which made it turn a little grey. With a move of her hands, the water flew out of the house through an open window.
The couple that had allowed them to rest in their house for a few days had given them two rooms to use however they wished. Since they all knew they would stay here for some time until they came up with a new plan, they all decided to do something for the couple: clean the house and help with everyday stuff.
The first thing they decided to do was go through the whole house and clean everything. The rooms they were using were the dirtiest ones; it was clear the couple hadn't used them for quite a while, so they decided to start with them.
Something that Katara found a little odd was that this house had seven rooms, and only the couple lived here. Why would a couple need so many rooms?
She wondered if they used to have children who lived here. As she used her waterbender to clean an old clock, she noticed it was stuck at 9:37 p.m.
"Huh, look at this," Sokka said out loud. The other two turned around, as he moved a shelf full of books away with his arms, the legs of the shelf dragging through the floor, letting out a loud creaking sound.
Hiding behind the shelf was a framed drawing nailed to the wall. The drawing was of three boys, all wearing Earth Nation armor. The nail was quite loose, with half of its body already out of the wall, and the rust had turned the nail red.
"Sokka, do not touch it; these people are helping us; return the shelf to its place." Katara wasted no time scolding her brother, walking across the room, ready to slap some sense into her, but Sokka paid little mind to what she was saying and instead noticed that the nail used had come loose; with a gentle push, the framed drawing was pulled out of the nail, and the nail fell from the wall, and onto the floor below with a small thud noise as it rolled until it hit the back of the shelf.
"Sokka!" Katara called him out with a scolding tone, this time much louder, but once again, her annoying brother ignored her as he looked at the drawing.
"Huh, it's not just the drawing here, and there's a small scroll behind the drawing," Sokka said, sounding curious and completely ignoring Katara.
Aang approached from behind, but he was reluctant. He felt a little conflicted about sniffing around other people's stuff, especially a couple that housed them, endangering their own lives just to protect them.
"Sokka, I don't think you should do that," Aang said as Sokka finally pulled out a small scroll tucked behind the drawing. He quickly unfolded it and started reading the words.
Aang and Katara couldn't help themselves and peered closer, trying to read along with him over his shoulder. However, they completely forgot that while the male of the house, mister Hataara, had gone out to work in the fields, his wife, lady Kanna, was still in the house and right now was right behind them.
"It's the last letter from my sons." The three quickly spun around in terror and saw Kanna looking at them with a gentle smile, holding a broomstick.
Kanna was an attractive, fair-skinned woman of medium height with a slender build. She had large, light eyes, long dark hair tied loosely hanging on her right shoulder with bangs on each side, and only a few short hairs kept loose on her forehead. She wore a cream-colored sweater with frilled sleeves, a long red skirt with a white apron, and small tan boots.
"I'm sorry. We just found this behind the shelf of books, and--" "And you couldn't keep your curiosity and decide. I want to see why this is hidden, perhaps there's a treasure there." Kanna interrupted with a gentle smile, humming to herself as if she remembered a good memory.
"Please forgive my brother, he's a moron." Katara quickly apologized, stepping forward and looking apologetic while giving Sokka a cold glare for messing around with other people's stuff.
They expected the lady to be angry with them. After all, they had messed around with stuff that wasn't theirs, but Kanna kept a gentle smile on her face before stepping forward and grabbing the framed drawing and the scroll from his hands. She looked down at the photo with melancholy, tucking the scroll back where it was. She placed the framed drawing on top of a table near them.
"They are my sons, they joined the army many years ago. They made all of us proud." She said with a growing sadness in her voice that she was clearly trying to suppress a sob.
"Where are they?" Sokka blurted out before Katara could stop him, but Kanna did not answer; she froze in place. She grabbed the framed drawing and spun around, her back facing them, before leaving the room.
"Sokka, have you ever heard of reading the room?" Katara scolded her brother the moment the door closed.
"He's right, Sokka. You shouldn't have asked that question," Aang chimed in. The older boy let out a sigh, knowing they were right and that he had crossed a line with that question.
"Alright, fine. I will apologize later." Sokka said with a huff, and soon, they returned to their work. After clearing for one more hour, they moved into the next room.
But as they fell silent, the three of them couldn't help but think about their blonde friend. Four days had passed since they arrived here, and there was still no sign of Dai Li agents anywhere, which was quite a relief; the group had been sure they would need to change locations by now, but surprisingly, they had yet to see any of them. According to Naruto, the only reason why they had yet to show up was because they were waiting for them to return back to the city.
'They know we want to inform everyone of the truth, and we can't do that by staying here, so Long Feng is waiting for us to come to him.'
They had decided to stay here only for one day, fearing that the Dai Li would find them if they stayed here too long, but Naruto was in no condition to go anywhere. That one day quickly turned into four days.
Since waking up, Naruto had a constant fever that rarely went away. Katara tried everything she could to help him, but she could only do so much, and no matter what, the fever wasn't going away, and that wasn't the end. While Naruto denied such claims at first, they knew he was in constant pain. According to Kanna, he had asked behind their backs if she had any alcohol in the house and that he would pay decently for it.
Kanna had given him a bottle of wine, and Naruto had drank that wine like water. When they found out that he was drinking so much wine, it didn't take long for Katara to realize that he was having pain, and alcohol was the only way for him to ease the pain to an extent.
But they all would be relieved if that was it, but no. Naruto could hardly eat anything. He tried, too, but he would often puke whatever they gave him. For a moment, they all were hugely concerned that he would starve to death since it seemed his body was refusing any kind of food, but thankfully, Kanna prepared some kind of soup. She said it would help him.
Katara wasn't sure if the soup really helped him to heal faster, but at the very least, he wasn't puking out the soup. Aang had even suggested they go back inside Ba Sing Se, find the hospital, and perhaps help Naruto; Sokka had been quick to point out the Dai Li were out there, but Aang had said.
'Naruto is in this condition because of me; I should have been the one to fight the dark spirit, not him. If they recognize me, I will use my Avatar State and...make them all fall unconscious, ' Aang said a little reluctantly.
But since yesterday, he had stabilized somewhat, but he was still in pain, and they had no way of helping him.
After two more hours of cleaning the house, they returned to the room they all shared. They expected to find Naruto lying on the bed, but neither he nor Toph was inside the room.
"Where the hell did they go?" Sokka wondered out loud as he looked under the blanket, but there was no one there, Momo looked around the ceiling before looking inside a teapot, wondering if they had somehow squeezed inside it.
"Naruto, Toph." Aang quickly shouted out their names with airbending. The voice echoed throughout the entire room and beyond; Katara and Sokka winced from the loud noise.
"Don't yell like that!" Sokka shouted before flickering his forehead with his index finger.
"Ouch!" Aang rubbed his forehead.
"We are here." They heard Toph from outside.
They quickly rushed outside to find Naruto leaning his back against a Juglant tree. The right side of his hair had turned white like snow, and the other side remained blonde. His face had turned pale like snow, his eyes seemed like a candle that was losing its light, his face appeared sweaty, his shirt under his collarbone had turned a dark grey from the sweat, his breathing was heavy, and the sun illuminated his face. Toph was resting her head against his shoulder, her hand rubbing his shoulder.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Sokka cried out in concern as they all ran up to them. Katara quickly used her water, applying it to his forehead and trying to heal him, but he shivered the moment the water touched his skin.
"Fine, don't worry about it, being outside is helping me. I need to stay near the trees." Naruto said the words with difficulty and so quiet they almost couldn't hear what he said.
"Naruto, let me use my Spirit Water, I'm sure it can help you-" "No." Naruto cut her sharply. Katara seemed like she wanted to protest, but he continued before she could say another word.
"Is not going to work on me. I told you that already, and I'm not in danger. The worst part has already passed," Naruto said with some difficulty as he took deep breaths.
"Naruto, you can at least try it," Toph said in a fragile voice. She had taken Naruto's health decline the worst. She had been with him the whole time and refused to leave his side, and she only occasionally was with Katara. While the blonde appreciated that she cared so much for him, he didn't want her to worry so much.
"My Soul is bound to a Spirit, the spirit of the Forest. Her name is Gaia. If I take the Water Spirit, there's a chance that I might die the moment it touches me." Naruto explained as he decided to stand up, using the tree behind him as support, his elbows against the skin of the tree as he stood up on his legs.
"Wait, Gaia! How come I never heard of her?!" Aang asked, looking at Sokka and Katara, but they knew even less about Spirits than Naruto and Aang did.
"She doesn't like the attention, but I was told by her and even Kyoshi that there's a risk the Spirit Water might have the opposite effect on me, and second, even if it didn't harm me. That water can heal only physical wounds, not my damaged soul and vitality. That's not something any kind of water can help." Naruto explained, but his words surprised everyone; even Toph raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, how can you even meet Kyoshi? You are not the Avatar." Sokka quickly pointed out; Naruto merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't look at me, she didn't tell me how she can talk to me, ask mister Avatar over here." Naruto said, pointing his thumb at Aang, and everyone quickly looked at him with expectations.
"Don't look at me. I'm still new to this whole Avatar thing." Aang defended himself, earning a chuckle from Naruto, but it quickly turned into a sharp pain in his throat. The pain shot up his arm like fire. It exploded in his head with a blinding whiteness. It made him dizzy. It made him reel. The pain was like needles that had been dipped in alcohol had been jammed through his skin, like his arm had been replaced with ice and electricity wired straight into his spine.
"Naruto!!" He heard them shouting his name. He found himself looking at the grass, and he saw blurs walking through the soil. He squinted his eyes, but they remained blurred.
"I'm fine," Naruto guttural. Their shouts felt like a hammer slamming against his head. It throbbed with pain. Naruto felt like his throat was swimming in a sea of blades, each breath felt like a fresh cut on his body.
The PAIN, it was too much pain. He felt dizzy. Everything appeared blurry: the grass, the animals, their faces. He felt his heart slamming against his chest, trying to escape. There was a sudden wetness on his nose. Somehow, his hand touched the skin under his nose. Why are my fingers red? Naruto wondered, but just as the pain had come, it went away like sand slipping through his fingers. Everything was sharp once again, and he could see. The others looked at him, worried, trying to help him to stand back up.
"Do not look at me as if this is the first time you have seen me," Naruto said with a hint of annoyance as he regained his composure and stood up on his legs once again; he didn't feel the pain right now, so now was a good time to make plans, and decide what they should do.
"We have spent enough time here. We need to leave this place."
"Naruto, you are in no condition to go anywhere." Toph quickly pointed out.
"And I'm not going to get better by staying here; the worst part has passed for me, and my soul is not going to get any more damaged than it got after killing that fucker. We cannot stay here; we are wasting time, the comet will not wait for me to get better." Naruto said firmly. He felt a sting in his chest, but he ignored it as he looked straight at Aang.
"Where can we even go? One hundred Dai Li agents guard Ba Sing Se, and one thousand soldiers make the 'City's Shield.'" Sokka asked out loud; with an upward wave of his hands, he sounded defeated. It was one thing to run away from Fire Nation soldiers, but it was a kick in the balls to hide themselves from Earth Nation soldiers, the ones who were supposed to be allies.
The City's Shield was an army explicitly made to guard the outer and inner walls of Ba Sing Se. The City's General commanded it. The army only took orders from the General and the King. The group wondered if they could talk with the General and convince him they needed to free the city from Long Feng.
"Wait, what about the letter I got from the hoodied man?" Naruto abruptly pointed out. The others, for a moment, didn't know what he was talking about, but the blonde reminded them about the man who put the piece of paper in his pocket the day he fought Aang. The others had a look of realization, and Naruto started searching in his pockets, trying to find it, but Katara quickly pulled it out from Sokka's bag.
"This one?"
"Yes," Naruto said as Katara handed it to him, but as he looked at the paper, the words appeared blurry once again. He squinted his eyes, trying to read the words as Sokka took a peek over his shoulder.
"The museum. The person who gave you this wanted us there, but we have no way of knowing what we can even find there. It could be a trap." Sokka quickly said, sounding suspicious.
"Or maybe it's just what we need, but you are right. I think three of us should go down there to check if it's a trap or not." Toph chimed in, standing beside Naruto.
"I think I should come with you." Katara quickly volunteered, looking at Naruto with concern, but the latter disagreed with her.
"Not you, Katara." she opened her mouth, ready to protest, but he continued before she could finish. "This is underneath the museum; there's not much water down there, and the only source of water you will have is what you carry around with the skin bottle. No, I should go down there. My trees can protect us, Toph will be able to detect people from far away, and Aang is the Avatar, and if things go really bad, he can probably get into the Avatar State and...knock them all unconscious." Aang seemed to like the idea as he walked up to Naruto, making it clear that he agreed with him.
"What about us?" Sokka asked, pointing at himself and Katara.
"You two can dress up. I'm sure we can find something to disguise ourselves. Your job will be to contact Zuko and Iroh. You two know where their tea shop is located so it won't be a problem." Aang answered with a commanding voice; Naruto nudged him with a smile on his face.
"Why do I have a feeling that everything will go wrong?" Sokka wondered out loud. They kept making more plans for one more hour, and eventually, they all returned inside the house.
Night
Lady Kenna found them gathering their belongings. The only one not working was Naruto, who found it a little difficult to move and was resting, drinking the soup she had prepared for him. "Going somewhere?" she asked, sounding disappointed that they were leaving; the blonde finished the soup and placed the empty plate on the table near him. "I'm afraid we all have to leave, Lady Kenna. Thank you for letting us stay here, but we can no longer stay here." Naruto said, sounding grateful as he shuffled towards her. He held a pouch in his hand, the tip closed by golden threads at the top.
"This is for your problem. I hope this is enough," Naruto said, handing the pouch to her. She opened it and gasped, finding thirty golden Earth coins inside. This was more than enough for them.
"I cannot accept this." "Consider it as a gift, my lady. Please accept the money," Naruto said, smiling weakly. The lady put away the pouch before searching deep into her own pockets. She pulled out a napkin rolled into a scroll or some kind, and she handed it to him. He looked confused before unrolling the napkin; seven different types of flowers were hidden inside.
"These are some of the best flowers one can use for tea. They can help you, so please use one whenever you feel pain. It will help you." Naruto was skeptical. He doubted that tea could heal his vitality, but he still accepted the gift with a smile. He quickly put it inside Sokka's bag.
"Your sons are lucky to call you and your husband parents," Naruto said, but he regretted it; when her expression shattered like glass before him, her eyes flickered at where their framed drawing was placed now.
"Yes, they were. But my sons had left us long ago; the Dragon of the West burned them alive with his own hands when he managed to get through the inner wall." Kanna answered gravely; a sob came from deep within her throat; before Naruto could even think of telling her something, she ran inside her room and closed the door with a loud thud noise.
Silence fell over the group until it was broken by Sokka. "Sometimes I forget that he used to be a general of the Fire Nation." He said, sounding a little angry as he closed the bag before grabbing it and carrying it over his shoulder.
Naruto couldn't blame him; Iroh, they knew right now, was vastly different from the one that was responsible for the deaths of thousands of soldiers from the Earth Nation.
"I believe that all people can change. I'm glad that Iroh is with us now, and not someone who still serves the Fire Nation." Aang said, sounding enthusiastic.
"Iroh is loyal to Zuko now. We are lucky that Zuko wanted to personally capture you with as little help as possible. If he had told his uncle to attack you, then Iroh would have done so. He might be conflicted, but his loyalty lies with Zuko." Naruto said. The others didn't know what to say to that, so they decided to stay quiet.
As they walked out of the house, Toph nudged Naruto's shoulder with hers. "You okay."
"Yeah, I'm a little dizzy, but I'm feeling much better now," Naruto said, sounding more energetic as he looked at the full moon above them.
"Good. I hope this makes you feel even better." Before Naruto could ask what she was talking about, she kissed him on the lips; he quickly kissed her back, his arms going around her waist.
They heard someone clearing their throat, but they refused to acknowledge his existence as they kept doing what they were doing; her lips tasted sweet, and she almost giggled when his tongue entered her mouth. They were now making out with one another as her arms went around his neck, wanting to get even closer to him.
"Guys, Enough." They reluctantly pulled away from one another and looked at Aang, who had interrupted them. They glared at him, who quickly used Sokka as a shield. Katara smiled proudly as she looked at Toph.
"We will continue this later, Toph," Naruto said, much to her disappointment, as his arms let go of her waist. As they walked past Sokka and Aang, she made sure to glare at them both, making it clear they were on her 'Dislike List.'
"Well. I can't say I'm excited to go back inside Ba Sing Se." Katara said, not sounding enthusiastic at the prospect of returning to the same place that was hunting them down.
"Don't worry, Katara. I have a good feeling that things will get better from now on." Naruto said amidst bad coughing. Before wiping away the hand with the side of his pants, a small droplet of blood was visible now in his pants.
Ba Sing Se
"We are right under the museum, and I don't hear any footsteps. We are safe," Toph informed them as she punched the roof of the tunnel she had made with Earthbending, causing a small hole to form above them, allowing the silver glow of the moon to pour inside. Aang used his airbending, jumping high in the air, and giving a quick look around, but it seemed this part of the city was almost deserted.
"Come out now," Aang told them hastily the moment he landed on his feet. They quickly climbed out of the hole one by one, and Toph tapped the ground with her feet, causing the hole to close. No sign was left that someone had dug a hole here.
"I can finally see again." Sokka said with relief as he looked around, but he quickly received a punch from Naruto on the shoulder.
"Oh, what a relief indeed," Toph said dramatically while rubbing her eyes before moving her head around as if she could see just like Sokka.
"Sorry." He quickly apologized while rubbing his sore arm, and Naruto gave him a glare.
As they approached the museum, they knew they couldn't just enter through the front door.
"Good luck. We will wait here," Katara said in a quiet voice, her hands cupped around her mouth. Sokka looked around to see if anyone was watching them.
Toph and Aang quickly raised the ground; a column reached all the way to the roof. The roof was M-shaped, and there was glass covering the big gaps between columns that made the roof.
"Aang," Naruto said, and the Avatar pressed his hand on the surface of the glass. His hand started vibrating faster and faster; for a moment, nothing happened until the glass square on this part of the roof cracked but did not break. Naruto reached out, and a vein grew out of his palm.
"Wait! Since when you can use your own body to grow trees." Aang quickly asked incredulously; as Naruto squinted his eyes, the tiny vein slowly entered through the small cracks in the glass, slowly filling every single small crack.
"I will explain later, right now. Let's get inside." Naruto answered as he used the veins inside to lift the entire glass square without making a noise. Aang quickly jumped down, using his Airbending to slow down his fall. The blonde laid the piece of glass on top of another one; the tree veins slowly sank back into his skin.
Naruto moved his feet on the ledge where the square glass used to be; in front of him was a square opening. He grabbed Toph by the waist, and she hugged his arm tightly as he jumped down; her grip around his arm tightened, but Aang quickly used his Airbending to slow down their fall.
"Alright, we are in." Naruto said the moment they landed on the first floor. The silence of this place felt like it was drowning them.
Suddenly, his heart almost burst from his chest, his heartbeat increased, and he felt as if the entire place was echoing.
"Strange, I don't see anything ancient here." Aang looked at him in confusion, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? There's a statue everywhere around us," Aang said with a light chuckle before pointing at the Liondragon statue across the hall. The moonlight pouring inside through the roof made it clear to the eye.
"Oh, I must not have been paying attention to it," Naruto said with a nervous chuckle. As he rubbed his eyes and squinted them every now and then, Aang wondered if there was something there he couldn't see, but he quickly remembered why they had come here in the first place.
"Alright, let's find that Lionturtle statue," Aang said with a glint of determination. They quickly spread out, but Toph decided to tag along with Naruto. Once Aang was out of their earshot, she turned her head forward.
"Is there something you wish to tell me?" Toph asked as Naruto approached a statue before realizing that it was the wrong one.
"No. Just a little chest pain, that's all." Naruto answered dismissively with a wave of his hand. Toph frowned behind him. She could read his heartbeat and knew he was lying to her, but she decided not to call him out on his lie. If he felt ready to tell her, then she knew he would tell her whatever was bothering him.
"Guys, I found it." They quickly ran across the hall, and on the far right of the corner was a Lionturtle statue standing on top of a pedestal.
Strangely, this Lionturtle carried a city instead of a forest on its back. He wondered why; it was not like people used to live in Lionturtles.
"Okay, just press the head three times Twinkletoes." Aang did as he was told, and for a moment, nothing happened. Naruto was ready to try and see if there was anything they were missing when they heard the sound of the wall moving; they quickly looked over the Lionturtle, and a piece of the wall was moving.
Behind the statue, a piece of the wall that seemed diamond-shaped sank into the wall, moving with the help of what seemed like train rails placed below the floor.
"Well. Mister All Powerful Avatar, you are first." Naruto teased with an evil grin, pointing at the new hole in the wall; Aang groaned before walking into the hall. Once they walked inside, they stepped into a strange, square, dark room.
For a moment, nothing happened until they heard moving once again, the room illuminated, the source of light coming from the floor. They looked down and saw a diamond-shaped part of the floor, and light rays were peering through the small openings around the diamond-shaped part.
Naruto used his woodbending to slowly slide inside thin veins. The diamond part of the floor opened up, revealing a long ladder that went down for what seemed like a hundred meters below the ground. The opening was big enough for two people.
Aang jumped down right away; Naruto and Toph waited until they heard his echo from below.
"Jump." They did so holding hands, and Aang was right there to slow down their fall. Once they stood up, they noticed a hole in the middle of the roof of the room they were in right now. The ladder went up through that hole.
The walls were painted with drawings of strange creatures, creatures they had never seen before, but Naruto noticed one drawing that caught his eye. The drawing was of a massive tree that reached the skies, with a woman inside the tree. Her legs sank into the tree, with only her upper body outside. Her eyes glowed like emeralds, and below this very tree were two strange spirits looking like carpets, one white and one dark.
"Who even built this place?" Naruto wondered out loud, his voice echoing throughout the room and through the long hole above them, but their eyes quickly noticed the metal door. Without thinking, they knocked on it five times as it was written on the letter, and a small square opening on the door opened, revealing a set of brown eyes.
"Password."
"The Truth," Naruto said right away. The small opening was closed shut, followed by the sound of the door unlocking. Slowly, the metallic door opened wide for them to walk in, revealing a boy younger than Aang.
The boy was short and of small build. He had short, shaggy, light brown hair and large, downward-sloped, light hazel eyes with rather long eyelashes. He was wearing a light jacket and pants, supply packs on the waist, suspender straps, a hard hat with a stripe around it, and tall combat boots. His shirt collar had a small badge with the Earthbender sigil.
"You are Welcome, Avatar Aang." the boy said with a bow of his head. They walked into a passageway, with torches illuminating the entire place.
"Who is here?" Naruto asked suspiciously, not lowering his guard as the boy walked ahead of them; they followed behind, keeping their guard up in case they needed to fight their way out.
"Those who want to bring down the Fire Nation, friend of Avatar." Naruto gave him a deadpan look when he was called 'Friend of Avatar,' "Those who refused to live the Lie and believe the Truth." the boy said cryptically before opening the next metal door at the end of the passageway. Once opened, they walked into what seemed like a small town built under the museum.
"All this was under here this whole time!!" Aang said, amazed at the sight of the town before them as he passed the threshold.
The place was like a massive room the size of a whole town. Aang could see small circular openings on the roof, most likely to fill the place with oxygen and remove the smoke or any other bad smell.
In front of them stood a whole town, built underground with buildings, towers, and bridges connecting buildings.
The streets were cobbled. Two towers were in front of them. The guards on top were wearing Earth Nation armour, but they noticed a massive chain linking the two towers together. The guards didn't bother them when they noticed the boy leading them inside.
"We call this place, The Undertown. Not many people know of this place. I hope you like it." The boy explained with an enthusiastic tone, dancing around on his tiptoes. Naruto and Aang looked at him strangely; the little boy blushed, turning red from embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, but I'm very happy you are here, Avatar Aang. We all have been waiting for you for quite a while." The boy explained, looking at Aang as if he were a god. Aang smiled in return.
"Well. I'm here, and will help all of you." Aang promised with a kind smile; the boy seemed like he wanted to fly from happiness as he led them further into the town, still dancing on his tiptoes.
There were no walls they could see, but the towers were the tallest structures in the whole place, almost reaching the ceiling of this massive room. But Naruto noticed, on the far right side of this enormous place. Water was running downwards, almost glued to the side of the wall; he wondered where it went or how it was possible that the small waterfall didn't flood this place. It seemed the metallic door wasn't the only way in; he could see what seemed like caves throughout the walls, and he wondered where they all went.
People were walking around, some fooling around, but Naruto noticed what they all had in common: every single one of them seemed like a warrior, holding sharp weapons, swords, knives, and even battle axes. They all wore rags, and some occasionally wore pieces of armor they must have stolen. They all seemed capable of fighting.
They stopped whatever they were doing when Aang, Naruto, and Toph approached, but they lowered their guard when they noticed the boy was leading them into the town.
"Call the Boss. He needs to see this," the boy shouted at a little boy near them. The little kid took off running, but he was running on all fours, catching them off guard, before jumping ten meters into the air. There was no airbending; his legs were quite long, making the boy look like a frog.
"Oh, and my name is Koo by the way." The boy introduced himself with a welcoming smile, leading them further into the town. The place was built like a real town, with houses and even a hospital office.
Naruto wondered who the leader was as he watched someone throw a flying paper with wings from his window to the window of someone else in the building in front of him. This was followed by the other one throwing a similar paper at someone else down below. He noticed several fountains placed around the town, with many people filling their buckets with water.
Soon, they reached the center of the town, where the largest building was located. In front of them was a large black building with a sigil on front; the sigil was someone holding a sword over their heart with his right hand and a shield over the left side of his chest. This building consists of several stone towers, and timber keeps. Beneath the keeps and towers, a series of subterranean passages connect all of the buildings.
They walked inside the main room. It was quite large, with twin staircases leading to the second floor. There was a bar on the left side, and behind it, someone was filling three cups with what seemed like beer. The place was colorful and pretty, and they heard someone playing the violin.
A crowd had gathered around someone, with many tables and chairs placed around for them to sit.
Naruto noticed that Aang was holding the staff with his hands, and Toph was clearly tense, just like him. The crowd turned to face them when the frog boy pointed at them; he had large front teeth and a strange smile.
"Boss, the Arrow head and his friends are here." The boy shouted, surprisingly quiet loudly for a kid. Everyone turned to face them, looking at them suspiciously.
"Hey, I want to see our new guests. Get away you morons." A voice was heard behind the crowd, and Aang and Naruto's eyebrows twitched upon hearing that voice.
Wait! That sounds awfully a lot like...
The crowd cleared away, revealing the one person Naruto and Aang hadn't expected to see in this place.
"It's been a long time, Avatar Aang, and Naruto."
"JET!!!"
If you want to Read Six More Chapters Right Now. Write 'www.Patreon.com/Drinor' in the Websearch.