It had been a trying journey through the Earth Kingdom thus far for Aang and his friends. First, there was the general who wanted to turn Aang into some sort of living weapon by forcing him into the Avatar State. Aang came to fear what he turned into when Katara became trapped in the ground below her. It took the wise words of Avatar Roku’s spirit to bring Aang out of his trance-like state and help him understand what it meant to be in the Avatar state. Then there was the journey towards the city of Omashu. Meeting the nomadic travelers with a mellow outlook on life was a treat but the trip through the secret tunnels did not go as well as they had all hoped. The group became separated and Katara and Aang almost kissed believing it to be the only solution to the problem of finding a way out. Lucky for them the green crystals in the cave provided a pathway to the other side of the tunnels when they began to glow in the dark.
However, the journey to Omashu was not what Aang and his friends had expected. By the time they reached the familiar city, the Fire Nation had overtaken it and imprisoned Aang’s childhood friend Bumi. Attempts to free Bumi had gone awry and the kids focused their attention on freeing a good number of Omashu’s citizens. In the end, Omashu became a part of the Fire Nation as Prince Zuko’s little sister declared it was now New Ozai. Aang now had a second member of the royal family of the Fire Nation chasing after him. After dealing with the situation at Omashu, Aang and his friends found themselves in a strange swamp. There Aang received a premonition of a young girl and a flying boar. Unlike his companions, Aang had never met the girl in his visions before. However, the journey to the swamp was not without merit as Aang and the others met members of the Foggy Swamp tribe of Waterbenders and learned of the connections between the elements and all living creatures.
Aang thought his troubles would be over with when the group arrived at a small village not far from the bay that separated Kiyoshi Island from the main land. The kids, however, learned that not everyone who was unhappy about the Avatar’s return came from the Fire Nation. The entire village blamed one of Aang’s past lives for killing a great ancestor of theirs. It took some clever detective work from Sokka and Katara along with Kiyoshi’s own spirit and an attack from the Rough Rhinos to convince the people of the small village that Aang was not to blame for the actions of his past lives. In the end, the village celebrated a new version of Avatar Day by eating man shaped dough that had yet to be fried in oil. This symbolized Aang being released of his punishment in gratitude for saving the village from the Rough Rhinos of the Fire Nation. Another adventure put behind them the kids journeyed onward in search of an Earthbending teacher for Aang. The trio’s hopes rested in the large village of Gaoling.
“We need supplies,” Katara reminded the boys.
The trio of travelers was currently going through the local market of Gaoling looking for reasonably priced supplies they could use on their journey. The kids had no real destination in mind hopping from one village to the next on the back of Appa looking for someone willing to teach Aang how to Earthbend. They believed that teacher could be found in their latest stop, Gaoling. However, convincing the boys that they needed to focus on getting supplies was harder to do than Katara thought. Aang would wander through the area that housed walking staffs and elaborately decorated umbrellas while Sokka decided that the textile stalls were worth looking through. At that moment, Sokka spotted something that caught his eye.
“I like it a lot but it costs too much,” Sokka knew they needed to save what little money they had for supplies but the bag looked useful for holding things they got on their journeys.
Katara knew her brother would regret not getting the bag and after their recent adventures Sokka deserved something nice, “Sokka just get the bag. You deserve to treat yourself once in a while. Price shouldn’t matter.”
“I do don’t I,” Sokka agreed before letting out a heavy sigh over the bag’s price, “No I’m not going to get it. It’s just too expensive.”
Frustrated over her brother’s indecision Katara let out a heavy short sigh and turned away from Sokka’s line of sight, “Fine then don’t get it.”
Katara then stomped out of the stall in frustration at Sokka’s indecisive nature. Aang, seeing Katara leaving, got up from the floor of the stall and decided to follow. Sokka was left looking at the bag for one final moment before he began to exit the stall. However, the moment he reached the door Sokka quickly turned around and stood before the bag. With his hands clasped a visible look of sheer joy danced across his face as he fought back a squeal of joy. Once calm a moment later Sokka made his intentions known.
“You know what I think I am going to get that bag.”
As Sokka made his purchase, a man holding several flyers in his hands approached Katara and Aang. The man took a flyer off the top of his stack and held it out to the two kids.
“If you like Earthbending and throwing rocks then Master Yu’s Earthbending Academy is the place to be. Why not check it out today.”
Aang reluctantly took the flyer from the man and watched as he walked away from the two kids. Looking down at the flyer Aang began to read it carefully. At the same time, Katara pondered the possibility of Aang learning Earthbending from this Master Yu.
“Who knows Aang Master Yu could be the Earthbending teacher you’re looking for.”
Aang turned the flyer over looking at the writing on the back, “Look Katara there’s a coupon on the back for one free Earthbending lesson.”
Katara and Aang looked at each other the exact same moment Sokka arrived new green bag in hand. The opportunity for a free Earthbending lesson seemed like the best chance for Aang to find someone other than Bumi to teach him the art of bending earth. The kids did not know if Master Yu would even be the right teacher for Aang but with coupon in hand it wouldn’t hurt to give the Earthbending master a shot.
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(Posted Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:03)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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