Chapter 1 – To The Top Of The World

Aang and Toph, about six yards apart, took their stances. Katara stood between them, hand raised. "Ready." Both nodded. "Steady." The avatar and the earth bender braced themselves. Katara threw down her hand, "GO!" and ran out of the line of fire as the pair began to practice.

Katara scampered to her brother's side and sat down next to him, laughing. "Go Aang!"

"No way." Sokka grinned broadly. "After all the water bending practice you put him through yesterday? Aang's got to be exhausted! Toph's totally going to win this one." Sokka looked out at the match. "Get 'im Toph!"

"You've got to be kidding. Aang'll totally take her in the second round." Katara laughed. The brother and sister continued their debate over who the winner would be as Aang and Toph continued shifting and bending the earth around themselves, competing to see who would give up first.

Their days had been like this a lot lately since Aang had defeated Fire Lord Ozai and set the world back into a state of peace. It had been four months since then. Katara's birthday had passed and they had thrown a celebration for her. The group still traveled around, helping any city or town that may still need them for whatever reason and making sure things were in order, but for the most part the four just practiced and enjoyed their peace.

"All right!" Aang laughed as Toph trapped him between two rocks. "You win! I give up!" Toph laughed and let Aang loose.

"Ha! Way to go, Toph!" Sokka cheered. "I told you she'd get him, Katara!" He got up, walking over and raising Toph's arm. "Today's winner, Toph!" Katara shook her head, getting up.

"All right, all right." Katara laughed, helping Aang. "We lost fair and square. We'll take care of dinner tonight." It had become an unspoken rule that the loser of the match, and whomever had cheered for them, would take care of that night's meal if they had no other plans. There were occasions that Toph and Sokka suspected that Aang let her win, since neither Toph nor Sokka were very good cooks, but a win was a win, and none of them really wanted food poisoning again.

As the four of them sat around the campfire enjoying their dinner, Toph put her food down and stood up. "Someone's coming." The other three drew their attention from the meal to Toph.

Aang stood up. "Just one person?"

Toph nodded. "An earth bender. I can tell by how heavily his steps are. But he's alone. About quarter of a mile that way." Toph turned, pointing to the north. "He's running now. He might have seen the smoke from our fire." Sokka and Katara also stood, readying themselves to fight if need be.

It was only a few moments before a tall, strong looking man broke through the northern line of trees, looking at the group he'd come across with a relieved expression. "It's only some kids."

Sokka frowned. "Hey! We're right here you know!"

Toph took a step back so she was closer to the group. Aang tilted his head. "Uhm, excuse me sir... Can we help you with something?"

The earth bender looked over at Aang and raised an eyebrow. "An arrow... and those clothes... You must be the Avatar." He frowned. "It would be in your best interest to come with me."

The four braced themselves, but suddenly Toph was distracted. Before she could open her mouth to warn the others, a tall woman burst from the tree line arms open wide. "Ozrin!! Are you scaring children again? What have I told you about that?" All attention was suddenly turned to her as she wrapped her arms around the stern man's neck. The woman stopped as she became the center of attention and put her hand on her hips, tilting her head to one side. "Oh, and they look absolutely harmless! Ozrin, aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

The man exhaled impatiently. "Captain, look at the one boy. He' the Avatar." The woman blinked, taking a step forward slowly, then walking towards Aang, circling him, examining him, until she had decided that her companion was right.

"So he is, so he is." She put her hand son her hips, standing straight and looking annoyed. "To think that the Avatar has finally wandered into our little base of operations." Aang frowned, leaning away from the strange woman, wondering why she looked so unhappy with him. She whirled on her heel, her long hair, the color of the sea at night, as well as her green-blue dress flew out behind her, giving her a sense of elegance. The rigid earth bender turned to follow her. The "Captain" looked over her shoulder at Aang. "You and your party would do best to come with us, Avatar."

"Wait! Why? Who are you guys?" Aang frowned. His friends were still poised to fight. The woman exhaled, looking back up the trail that her partner had formed into the mountains.

"I need to speak with you, and I could very much use the Avatar's advice right now on a very important matter," the woman said solemnly. She and her earth bender continued up the trail. Aang sighed and looked at the others.

"What do you guys think?"

Toph nodded. "She's telling the truth. We should at least try." She relaxed her stance, walking past Aang and after the pair into the woods. Aang nodded.

"Alright then." He headed after them, Katara quickly following after. Momo lifted his head from his position on top of Appa's head and flew after Aang, landing on his shoulder.

"Wait!! What about our stuff?" Sokka pointed back at their campsite. The tall woman looked back, then to her companion.

"Ozrin, you and the young water tribe man stay here and pack up their camp. You can meet us back at the base." She exhaled impatiently. The earth bender nodded and turned, walking back past the group and began packing up the camp. Sokka frowned bitterly and showed him how they packed things, keeping a close eye out to make sure he didn't steal anything from them as he lost sight of his friends and his sister.

"So... Who are you again?" Aang asked, picking up his pace so he was alongside the tall woman. He had to keep his quick pace to match her long strides.

"My name is Lo'nee, but those in my company call me Captain out of respect. I come from the North Pole originally, but it's been many years since I've gotten the chance to be there." She tilted her head at Aang. "I am a seer, a soothsayer... One in touch with spiritual beings. I was raised and trained with the knowledge to interpret the motions and ways of the guardians of the Moon and the Ocean."

"The black and white koi!" Aang exclaimed, remembering the fish, and Yue. Lo'nee nodded.

"Yes, the koi, Tui and La. Over the years I've applied that training and wisdom to other things and formed a small, but effective group of freedom fighters. Ozrin is my closest officer and friend. I apologize if he frightened you." She laughed a bit. "He may seem scary, but once you get to know him he's actually just a big fuzz ball. He's harmless unless he's fighting."

"Kinda like Sokka?" Toph raised an eyebrow. Lo'nee laughed a bit.

"I'm afraid I don't know him well enough to make a judgment." Lo'nee smiled. "Though from the stories I've heard, I could only guess they're rather similar in that respect." Lo'nee stopped as they came upon a cliff side and put her hands on her hips. "Oh right, Ozrin is back helping to clean up your camp. We'll have to take the long way in." She followed the length of the cliff, keeping a hand on it. "Hmm, now where did we hide that entrance?"

"You live in a cliff?" Aang tilted his head to one side. Lo'nee glanced sideways at the Avatar with a grin.

"We're a rogue army, Avatar. The fire nation is always on the alert about us. We need to keep our base hidden." Lo'nee looked up the cliff side, examining it closely.

"But we've already beaten Ozai." Katara sounded surprised. "We're all safe now."

"Ozai is gone, but that witch daughter of his isn't." Lo'nee frowned. "She still has a few troops loose in this region, and I'm sure she's working on plans for a larger assault." Katara frowned, looking ahead at Aang, who seemed to be just as disturbed by the news as she was.

Toph stopped. "The entrance is here, I think. It's hollow behind this part of the wall." Lo'nee looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow at the young earth bender. Toph exhaled and rolled her eyes. "I can feel the vibrations in the ground, and the vibrations here are different because there's a hallway behind this part of the wall instead of solid rock."

"Well aren't you the clever one." Lo'nee grinned. "That's quite the useful skill." Toph bent open the entryway and Lo'nee lead them inside. "I should warn you, just so you don't panic, two members of our group are fire benders, and one is a fire nation deserter." Lo'nee navigated the tunnels, explaining the lives of her three fire nation comrades. "Mera's village was commandeered by Ozai and destroyed to be rebuilt as a station for manufacturing weapons. Many members of her village died because of this. And thus Mera joined us.

"Thule and his brother Lee are twins. I don't know many of the details behind it, but their father was from the northern water tribe, and their mother was a fire nation deserter. I believe both of them have since passed, so I am taking care of them now. Jing... Er..." She looked away, scratching the back of her head. "Well we know Jing is loyal to us and that's all that really matters."

Katara grinned, knowing the look on Lo'nee's face. "He likes you, doesn't he?"

Lo'nee sighed heavily. "He's thick in in the head, as most men tend to be. We started as enemies, he misinterpreted something I said in battle and decided to switch sides." Lo'nee smiled. "But he works as a double agent for us. That's how we've gotten by for so long."

"What about the rest of your army? How many others do you have?" Aang asked, curious, as they rounded what had to have been the fiftieth corner since they had entered the maze.

"There's Thule's brother, Lee, who is a water bender like myself, and Mera's husband Aron, as well as his brother Edju. The two of them are earth benders like Ozrin. So in total there are eight of us." Lo'nee counted on her fingers.

"Eight? Thats it?" Katara blinked. "Are you sure you can fight the fire nation with just eight people?"

"You'd be surprised what eight people can do, even if none of them are the Avatar." Lo'nee smiled, rounding another corner into a large open room. There was a fire pit in the center, tended by a young, red-haired woman, several make shift beds, some tables, chairs, and counters – everything needed to make up a small home.

The red-haired woman looked over her shoulder as the group entered. "Captain!" She smiled. Everyone else in the room looked up from their various activities, welcoming their leader home.

Lo'nee smiled, stepping out of the way of her guests. "Everyone, I would like you to meet the Avatar and his companions. They will be our guests for as long as they would like to stay." Everyone gathered around, a tall man moving to put his arm around Lo'nee, and promptly getting shoved away. "Ozrin will be back soon with the Avatar's other friend and their bison."

One of the two young boys in the room looked up at Aang as if examining him. "He's got an arrow on his head, Captain."

Lo'nee laughed and nodded. "Yes, Thule. Yes he does. Why don't you help our guests get settled in? I should go find Ozrin and the other boy. Mera, you and your husband keep an eye on things here. Don't let it get too out of hand."

Mera nodded. "Of course, Captain. You can count on us." Lo'nee nodded, heading back through the tunnels.

Lo'nee waved as she saw the boys and the bison coming up the trail. "It took you boys long enough." She laughed. Ozrin huffed, but gave no verbal response. Lo'nee grinned at him, then tilted her head at Sokka, something about him tugging at the back of her mind where the wisdom of La and Tui was kept. The nagging came form the top of her head rather than the bottom, so she guessed it was the moon fish who was trying to command her attention. "I need to meditate on something when we get back. Ozrin, see to it that I am not disturbed."

"The fish again?" Ozrin frowned.

"I'd like if you spoke of them with a bit more respect, but yes. Tui, specifically." Lo'nee rest her forehead in her hand. "I have no idea what thous could be about."

"Fish... Tui?" Sokka blinked, and after a bit of quick math exclaimed, "The koi spirits from the north pole?!"

Lo'nee nodded. "Right, you weren't there when I explained it you your friends. I am a seer who was trained at the north pole with the water sages under the wisdom of La and Tui. But I left long ago and started my freedom fighters. I retruned breifly to help rebuild after the seige on the city, but I came back here afterward." Lo'nee blinekd at Sokka. "I have a deep mental connection with the spirit koi, and on occasion when I need it they share their wisdom with me."

Sokka reached forward and grabbed Lo'nee's wrist. "C-Can you talk back to them?" Lo'nee looked back at Sokka, frowning at the almost desperate expression on his face. Ozrin moved to push him away but Lo'nee shook her head.

"It's all right, Ozrin. Yes, Sokka, when I meditate I can speak back to them." She said softly. "Is there... something you'd like me to say for you?"

Sokka nodded a little, looking away from her. "Can you tell Yue that I'm sorry?" Lo'nee opened her mouth to say something, then shut it and tilted her head to one side.

She thought back on what the elders had told her about the attack on their city. She remember hearing about the Avatar and his friends saving the city, and how one of the Avatar's friends had worked so hard to protect Princes Yue... and how she had givenher life to Tui to save the spirit. Lo'nee managed a smile and nodded, "I'll let her know." Sokka forced himself to return the smile, letting go of the water bender's wrist.

Lo'nee continued up the path to the cliff side, falling back a bit to walk beside Ozrin. The earth bender tilted his head at her and grunted. Lo'nee laughed and shook her head. "Let us in, Ozrin." He nodded bending open an entrance in the cave leading to the hallways that Lo'nee had taken the others through earlier.

Everyone looked at the trio and the bison as they reentered the cave. Jing stared at the bison and hid behind the twins. "What the hell is that?!"

"It's a bison, Jing." Lo'nee rolled her eyes. "Calm down."

"Appa!" Aang smiled, running over and patting his bison on the nose. Momo chittered and flew over, landing on Appa's head.

Lo'nee exhaled, "Ozrin, if you could bend a space for the bison, and somewhere for me to meditate." Ozrin nodded, setting to bend two new annexes into their little home. The twins took their attention off of Appa and looked over at Lo'nee.

"Is it the fish again?" Thule ran over, closely followed by Lee.

"Which one is it this time? We can't hear them!" Lee tugged on her arm. Mera rose, clapping her hands together.

"All right boys that's enough! Dinner's ready!" Mera put her hands on her hips, shuffling the boys away from their Captain. "Go do your meditations, Captain. I'll bring some food to you in a while."

"Thank you Mera." Lo'nee nodded, making her way to the smallerof the two annexes, taking a seat and folding her hands in her lap. Aang lead Appa to were hed be resting, taking a last look at the meditating water bender, wondering what was the matter. Everyone else gathered around Mera and Aron to get their rations for the evening. They sat down to dinner and listened to the Avatar and his friends tell stories of their travels.