Here we go! The Sitalyi Finale!
Sitalyi
Too Much Sadness
This was it. The final phase. They all prepared themselves, almost as if they might never come out. The moon was shining down on them, and everyone knew nothing of what laid ahead. Fear glinted in their eyes when the moon hit them in just the right spot.
They continued to stand there until they all knew what to do before going inside. Well, that is, everyone except Sokka, Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee.
Aang and Katara looked into each other's eyes as well as Toph and Satoru and Zuko and Jin. Then, the three pairs kissed. As they did so, Sokka thought of Suki.
"That's enough guys, it's time to move!" said Jet, with a more defiant courage in his voice.
Sokka looked around as the couples broke apart. He could tell by the look in their eyes that they knew they were up against a challenge, but they weren't scared anymore.
"He's right," said Aang in the voice that a leader has. He turned to Satoru then and said, "Are you sure you don't want to go back to Sitalyi where it's safe?"
Satoru answered immediately with strong words. "You guys are my friends and I'm no about to let you down." He paused, looking back in the direction of Sitalyi. "I'm staying."
"In that case, let's move," said Zuko.
They planned to enter the air balloon one at a time. Aang first, then Katara, then Sokka, then Toph, then Satoru, then Zuko, then Jet, then Smellerbee, then Jin, and finally Longshot.
Once they were all in the balloon, they started to head up the stairs in a single file procession. Once at the top of the stairs they walked through the second floor corridor and continued up the second flight of stairs.
The entire third floor was made up of one giant room. In the middle of the room was a man standing their, looking at them with no sign of surprise at all. Sokka thought he really was surprised, he just didn't want to show it.
"Who are you?" asked Katara fiercely.
"I am Admiral Tong, Admiral Xiao's brother. I take it he is the Avatar?"
Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko's jaws all dropped. Aang spoke up. "Your Xiao's brother?"
"Yes. And you are the Avatar?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well then I guess I'll just have to fight you all!" As he said this, a wall of fire lined the room, leaving them no escape. Katara tried to extinguish the flames with the water from her canister, but there was too much fire for it to do the job.
With no other choice but to fight, the group circled around Tong, leaving him nowhere to go. But that wasn't what Tong was thinking.
He saw that the blind girl was an earthbender, and that she could do nothing to fight. He charged up his chi and launched a powerful fireball at her. She could do nothing to see it, let alone block it.
The fireball hit her square in the chest, burning her chest as well as her sleeveless arms. She fell over, unconscious from the intense pain.
"Toph!" cried Satoru. That was it. He didn't want anything to do with this guy. He thought the Admiral would have never guessed he was an airbender, so he sent a wave of air right at him.
Admiral Tong flew off of his feet and into his own flames. He never thought that his own element would cause his death. Normally he would have been able to handle the fire, but it was too intense for him this time. Now he was dead.
Satoru picked up Toph and began to run out of the balloon. Everyone followed with Katara and Sokka in the rear.
On their way down the last flight of stairs, Katara tripped and twisted her ankle. Nobody but Sokka saw, so Sokka sat down and helped her. Everyone was long gone after the got up again, Sokka helping Katara to walk.
Almost to the door, they felt the ground in the balloon shake. Then Sokka realized the horrible truth. The pilot of the balloon was above the three levels they had gone on, and he had just taken off without knowing what had happened below him.
"Katara…,"
"I know, Sokka." Tears were running down her eyes. They were stranded, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
"So, where do you think we're going?" asked Sokka.
Katara was too sad to reply. Instead, she just continued to sit their, crying over her hurt leg and their new predicament.
Sokka thought then that maybe he could get to the pilot and bring the craft down. It was a fool's wish, but he had to give it a try. So, he walked back up the stairs, crossed the hall, up the second flight of stairs, and looked up at the ceiling in the third floor room. As he looked up he tried to ignore the remains of Admiral Tong.
His too optimistic thoughts were wrong. The pilot was concealed from the rest of the balloon and there was no way to get to him from where they were. Now all they could do is wait till the hot air balloon landed. And who knew where that would be.
"Where's Katara and Sokka!?" exclaimed Aang.
"Oh no!" said Toph.
"What is it?" asked Aang. They were now in the bushes they hid in recently.
Toph replied in a worried voice. She twitched in pain as she talked as well. She was concsious now, but the pain from the burn was still overwhelming. "I don't fell anything in the clearing. The air balloon took off. And Sokka and Katara are trapped in it!"
The walk back to Sitalyi was a sad one. They told the Sitalyins the fate of the Hero and his sister. They cried for him.
Aang and Toph boarded Appa with sadness in their eyes. Now they had a new mission, and they were two people short.
Satoru ran into the stables, hardly breathing. "I'm coming with you!"
Maybe they weren't going to be two people short on their new mission after all.
Well, I hope you liked. And if your going to review, would you mind rating it on a scale of one to ten? Thanks.
Also, in February of 2008, I will release Sitalyi Book Two onto fanfiction. And again, thanks for reading!