A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late chapter, I got sick last weekend (nothing serious, just a flu bug) and it really ripped the rug out from under me. I'm finally recovered, though, so I'm going to be posting two chapters back-to-back because I don't want to fall behind the schedule I wanted to give myself. That being said, I'm laid off my job for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus. So I might post more often (or might try to get ahead with my writing) either way, I'm going to have plenty of time in the near future for writing.

Falkyn's Flight Out

Fans of Kyoshi

Aang

Almost a full week of travelling, only stopping on small clusters of rock or half-formed islands to sleep, and they had almost entirely run out of food and water. It was almost funny, Aang had always assumed that having a water bender would mean that they would never have to worry about freshwater. Katara had quickly proved him wrong.

"I can't separate the water from whatever is inside it. If I waterbend soup, I bend the broth with the water. In this case." She had lifted a small mouthful of water from the ocean, waving the water under his nose. "this is still salt-water," she had said. Not that she needed to, the smell of salt had been enough for Aang to tell.

It wasn't her fault, of course, but it meant that with their supplies running on empty, they were going to have to resupply. There were two options, head back to Whaletail island or stop on Kyoshi Island.

The choice was rather obvious.

"How far is Kyoshi anyway?" Sokka asked, leaning over the edge of Appa's saddle.

"Not far now," Aang said. Despite what he had assumed, after Sokka and Katara had saved him from Zuko's ship, the older water tribe boy had insisted on travelling with them.

"Is that it?" Katara asked, pointing. In this distance, and quickly growing closer, was a small chunk of land that was steadily growing larger.

"That's it, Kyoshi island," Aang said, glancing down at his map (just to double-check).

Appa landed on the edge of the bay with a loud groan. Within seconds Aang hopped off and stretched. The sun was warmer here, but nowhere near as warm as he would have preferred. That being said, Sokka and Katara had already stripped off the outer layer of their parka's two islands back and were trying not to show just how warm they thought it was. He tried to imagine what they would be like in his home nation…

Heat rushed to his face, and he quickly shook images of Katara, wearing only a swimsuit out of his head.

The trees were filled with rich green foliage, and small birds flittered about, singing gayly.

"Wait here," Aang said to Appa, who rumbled before moving to chew the leaves off some bushes.

"So, how are we going to pay for the supplies we need?" Sokka asked as he jumped off of Appa's back. Aang froze, but Sokka continued, unaware.

"I mean Katara, and I have some water tribe money, but not a lot. And I don't think these people are going to be thrilled to get fire nation money, even if it's Katara and I who use it," He said.

Aang winced, he honestly hadn't considered that. He had been saving up what money he could get ever since Aang had learned he was the Avatar, and before he left, Dawa had given him another large sum. He should have had plenty of money for the trip to the North and possibly back. But he hadn't even considered that some places wouldn't accept his fire nation money.

Aang groaned out loud.

Sokka's hand touched his shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll figure it out. It's not like we're going to starve or something," Sokka said. Aang nodded and tried to give him a big smile.

"No, you're right. It will be okay. I'm sure we can convince them that money is money. Besides, I'm the Avatar. It would just make sense that I'd have money from all the nations!" Aang chirped.

"The nearest town's probably this way," Katara added, coming up to his other side and pointing at a well-walked path that led into the trees.

"What makes you say that?" Sokka asked, frowning deeply. Katara grinned at Aang and pointed up.

A large pole stood up above the trees with the silhouette of a woman at the top.

"Generally, monuments aren't just left in the middle of forests," Katara said. Aang laughed while Sokka grumbled under his breath.

The three of them headed down the path. Dappled light filtered through leaves, touching on the burgundy top and grey pants. A fallen leaf got caught on his shoe, tucking itself against the curled toe. He had switched back into his fire nation clothes around the same time that the water tribe siblings had shed their extra layers.

As they turned a corner, all three of them froze. A group of girls stood in the road, holding either swords or fans. Only one wasn't carrying a weapon, but she was clearly different from the others in three ways. First, she was the only one with short hair. Second, she was the only one not holding a weapon at the ready. Third, between her headpiece and the way the other girls glanced at her, it was apparent she was the leader.

"Who are you?" The leader demanded, her green eyes sharp. Aang and his little group glanced at each other nervously. They hadn't been expecting someone to confront them out of nowhere.

"I'm Katara, this is my brother Sokka, and our friend Aang. We're just here to get some supplies," Katara said. The girls standing in front of them didn't move.

"A likely story, especially since your 'friend' is fire nation. I'm going to be honest with you. I thought that if the fire nation wanted to spy on Kyoshi, they'd at least have the intelligence not to send someone wearing fire nation clothes," the leader spat. Aang recoiled. The way she spat those words, it was like the words themselves were somehow poisonous. He swallowed.

"I won't deny I'm from the fire nation, but I'm not here to spy, or start a fight. We' re-…" Aang cut himself off. He wasn't sure what he should say, but saying he was heading to the North Pole probably wouldn't help.

"I'm the Avatar," he said instead.

"Um, Aang," Sokka said, his voice rising. Aang glanced back towards Sokka. Behind them, several girls had come out of the forest and now blocked their path back. They were surrounded.

"And I'm a forest spirit," The leader replied.

"We just need to get enough food and fresh water so we can make it to the next village," Aang reasoned, "after that, we will leave." There was a long moment of silence.

He hit them with a gust of wind, then carefully let a small flame dance just above his fingertip. He didn't want to scare them, and going all out with his fire bending seemed like a pretty bad idea.

Despite that, some of the girls still backed up slightly, hands tightening on their weapons. He quickly dropped his hand, the small flame extinguished in a second.

"Sorry," he said, flushing.

"So you're the avatar of fire then," the leader said.

"Um… maybe?"

The leader frowned and crossed her arms.

"Three days, you have three days to resupply and leave. I don't care if you're the Avatar, I'm not putting my people at risk," the leader said. With that, she turned and left, along with most of the other girls in the group. Two girls stayed behind. The first was tall, almost as tall as Sokka with brown hair and eyes. The second was a good deal shorter, standing about as tall as Katara, with black hair and green eyes.

"I'm Tae, and this is Anila," Tae, the shorter girl, said. "We'll be your guides while you're here." She didn't sound very enthusiastic about the idea.

"This way," she added, walking ahead. Anila stayed behind, observing them, one hand still on her sword although it was sheathed.

"Wow, I can tell that you trust us," Sokka said dryly, starting to walk after Tae. Aang glanced at Anila then followed after Sokka, Katara. Something heavy settled deep in his stomach. Neither Tae or Anila had looked at his face once.

They were relegated to the forest edge of town. Close to the front by the statue of Kyoshi, and the forest away from the warrior's hut. The entire village was made out of wood with straw-thatched roofs. Aang couldn't help but consider how much of a threat a single spark would be to this place, let alone an actual attack from the fire nation. The entire town would be cinders within seconds.

"Well… I'll start gathering the supplies we need," Katara said, glancing at Aang. He knew he was pouting and acting silly, but he couldn't stop it. It hurt that just because he was Fire Nation that he was being treated like he was evil. He loved his nation, his people. Why was it their fault what Ozai was doing?

He quietly set about his work. He pulled out a rag and a small bottle of polish from Appa's saddle. Sokka, Tae and Katara stalled, glancing back at him while Anila sat down at pulled out her sword. She didn't seem to care what was happening as long as he was within sight.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara asked, glancing between Aang, Appa, and Anila.

"Shining Appa's horns," Aang replied, the cloth in his hand running up and down the smooth surface.

"I realized that what I meant is why aren't you coming to the market with me. We could use extra hands," Katara said. Aang turned, dropping the rag and polish on the ground.

"They don't want me there Katara, they don't trust me,"

"I'm sure that's not true, they're just cautious-"

"No, he's right," Anila drawled, looking up from where she was sharpening her sword. Katara glared at the girl and huffed.

"Why don't you trust him? He's the Avatar!" Katara said.

"He's fire nation," Anila said.

"And he's right here," Aang added, causing both girls to stop and flush. Belatedly he realized that Tae and Sokka had retreated some distance away and were watching out of earshot. There was a pause, Aang sighed.

"Just go, I'll stay here and finish caring for Appa. If you need help after that, I'll come… I just…" he trailed off. He didn't want to be around these people. If the warriors had given them guards to make sure that he wasn't a spy, then how the people would respond? He was too scared to find out. Katara frowned but did as he suggested, walking towards her brother and Tae.

Minutes passed, and Aang finished polishing Appa's horns and moved on to the saddle. The black leather was soft and supple, but one could never be too thorough while checking equipment. He carefully looked for cracks or places where the metal loops might be pulling at the leather and causing tears. Any sign of wear or damage could mean losing supplies, or worse, passengers.

Living and working in a circus meant constant checking of equipment. A fraying rope could spell the end of life, a crack could mean severe injury. He had been raised to never assume that something was safe but to always check himself. The supplies were supposed to be checked every two days when not being used. They were also tested before and after every show. Never assume that they had already been looked at by someone else.

The rhythm was familiar and comforting. Aang could almost feel his father's proud gaze on his back, or the occasional touch of his father's stump while his single hand worked at its own task.

He was deep in thought when Katara and Tae came back. Their arms were full of baskets of food. But only things that would last short-term. Fresh fruit and vegetables mostly.

Aang left the rag he had been using to oil the leather and moved to inspect the food. They would need dried fruit, meat, and some vegetables. The fresh stuff wasn't bad, but it would have to be eaten first and at most would last a week. Then again, their supplies had only continued a week between the three of them, and that included the freshwater.

He decided not to say anything at the moment. Instead, He helped Katara load the food into the baskets that would go back on Appa's saddle once he was done checking it.

After they were done, he looked around, realizing that one of the members of their party was missing.

"Where's Sokka?" He asked. Tae glanced at him, temporarily meeting his eyes.

"He challenged Suki to a battle," she said with a snicker. Anila sat up eyes wide as she turned her head in Tae's direction.

"Why didn't you tell me! I'd pay to-"

"You're not going anywhere. It's our job to watch them," Tae said, jerking her thumb towards Aang and Katara. Anila pouted but didn't argue.

Sokka returned late in the evening. There were a few white streaks of war paint on his face, and he walked as though he had been on a long hunt. Despite that, he was beaming. In his hands, he held a scroll.

Tae and Anila stood in tandem as he approached. He ignored them, except to hand the scroll to Tae while he passed. Then he pulled out his bedroll and collapsed on top, quickly falling asleep. Aang glanced between the sleeping teen and the two Kyoshi warriors who were reading the scroll. There was a moment then Anila exploded.

"She can't be serious!"

"Anila, stop," Tae said. Their backs were still to Aang, but whatever that scroll had stated clearly had upset them both.

"No, I won't stop, what in the realm of spirits is Suki thinking! He's Fire nation Tae. Fire nation!" Anila screeched, her hands waving wildly.

"Suki would not give an order like this without thought," Tae reasoned, glancing at Aang, who stood watching them. What was going on? What had that scroll said?

"She's seen him for a whole three minutes! I've been here all day!" Anila insisted. Tae finally whipped around and glared at the other girl.

"An order is an order," she said. Her word was final. Aang had already realized that Tae was the superior officer in the dynamic. Still, whatever the order was, she wasn't happy about it either. He turned to go set up his bedroll.

"Avatar," he turned back at Tae's voice. She bowed, shocking him into stillness.

"We will not be escorting you anymore during your stay here. However, that doesn't mean we trust you either," Tae added, then grabbed Anila's arm and dragged the other girl away. Aang blinked, his head spinning. He turned back to look at Sokka.

Somehow Sokka had managed to get this 'Suki' to reconsider her order. Not only review it but change it.

How hard had he worked for that? Just so Aang could go unwatched? He smiled and walked over to the sleeping boy.

"Thanks, Sokka," he said. Then set about getting his own bedroll ready, placing it between Katara, who had been asleep this whole time, and Sokka.

Despite Suki's change in heart, it was clear that the other members of Kyoshi island hadn't agreed with her choice. Aang held the bag of dried meat that he had convinced Katara to get, waiting quietly as she haggled over the price of the dried peaches and peas that they were getting as well. He quickly stepped away as an old woman spat at him, the liquid hitting the ground near his feet. And this was with them knowing he was the Avatar. He winced, remembering his sister's words that he hadn't seriously considered until now.

"If you're going to be the Avatar, Aang. You can't be Fire Nation. Not to the world, at least,"

He kicked some dust over the wet spot in the ground, his stomach twisting with emotion. Back in the South Pole, he hadn't realized how much he was mistrusted. The water tribe had been kind, but distant, with only Katara, Sokka, and the children actually wanting to spend time with him. He hadn't realized at the time that a reaction like that was mild compared to what he would get.

If he tried to haggle or talk to someone, he was treated as though he wasn't even there, at best. At worst, he and Katara both would be told to leave the stall. There was so much… hate.

He looked towards the statue of Kyoshi and the forest. These people didn't even care that she was one of his past lives, he was Fire Nation, and therefore an enemy. It was as simple as that.

His thoughts were stopped as a Kyoshi warrior sprained out of the forest. Running for a gong that hung a little way into the village. She struck it with her foot, not even bothering to use the hammer sitting right beside it. Was that… Anila?

She struck it again, grabbing the hammer for the final strike. The members of the village who hadn't already been packing up their stalls burst into motion.

"What's going on?" Aang shouted as Anila ran by, heading towards the warriors' hut.

"Fire nation ship," she shouted, not seeming to notice who had asked the question. Aang froze.

This was his fault, wasn't it? He braced himself and ran at the entrance of the village. Katara shouted after him, but he ignored her. He had to do this, he had to stop it. This was his fault, and he was the Avatar, it was his job to protect people. That, and this village didn't need its idea of his people dropping any further. So maybe if he could show them that the Avatar of fire (maybe?) didn't agree with his people, then perhaps they could accept that not all Fire Nation people were terrible?

It was a stretch, but he had to try.

He grit his teeth as he rushed towards the statue, his hands thrusting backwards behind his back to bend air and speed himself up. He skidded to a stop to watch as Zuko, and six of his soldiers marched down the path that he and his companions had walked just yesterday.

They stopped. Zuko's eyes met Aang's.

"Don't let him get away this time!" Zuko shouted, leaping forward. He punched at Aang, fire spewing from his fist. Aang swept the flames to the side instinctually. The fire hit hard-packed earth and fizzled out. Zuko didn't give him time to think, charging in with a flurry of punches and kicks. Aang threw the fire at the ground and retorted with his own flames that Zuko had to dodge.

He doesn't know how to bend the flames out of his way. The revelation left him standing, aghast. He just barely missed Zuko's punch at his shoulder. He twisted out of the way. Watching closely now, he circled Zuko, who mirrored his movements. Zuko was a teenager, around the same age as Sokka, probably older, but he only knew the basics? He glanced at the teen's scar.

His father had to learn how to fire bend from scratch after he had returned home without an arm. Depending on when Zuko got that scar…

He narrowly missed another punch, this one aimed at his face.

This isn't the time to think, Aang! He snapped at himself. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of battle as the Kyoshi warriors fought off the other soldiers.

A Kyoshi warrior charged past him, one with short brown hair and a headdress that was different than the rest. Suki struck out at the Fire Nation prince with her fans, pushing flames and physical attacks to the side like nothing.

"Get out of here! Leave! He wants you!" She shouted as she fought off the scarred teen.

Aang backed up and caught his breath, looking back at the village. His heart sank.

The flames had already taken over four houses and were quickly moving to devour the rest of the straw roofs. It would only be a few more minutes before the entire village was a mess of flames. But Suki was right, if he left, Zuko would follow him. He turned on his heel and ran, pulling out his tin whistle and blowing into it, signalling to Appa that he needed to be picked up. The bison had retreated from the fight, but at the sound of Aang's whistle leapt towards him. Aang threw himself into the air and onto Appa's head.

He looked around, he didn't see Sokka anywhere. Katara was hurrying to help a little girl into a building further back in the village. Didn't she realize that putting the people in the houses would kill them!

No, she probably didn't. He corrected himself as he shouted her name.

She turned and charged at Appa, climbing on by charging up the animal's tail.

"Where's Sokka?"

"I haven't seen him," Aang admitted, head swinging back and forth as he tried to pinpoint the water tribe teen.

A Kyoshi warrior was running at them, and for a moment, Aang found himself wondering why she had such an odd hairstyle. Then he realized that hairstyle was Sokka's 'wolf-warrior-tail,' and the Kyoshi Warrior was actually Sokka.

He clambered onto Appa's back the same way as Katara.

"Suki said she told you to go," he gasped as Aang snapped Appa's reins.

"Uh-uh. Appa, yip-yip," Aang said. They took into the air, Appa slowly circling. Zuko's head lifted, and he began shouting at his men, who were beating a hasty retreat. The fire was still burning, and in the heat of the summer, the whole village was little more than tinder.

He couldn't leave it this way.

"I'll catch up later," Aang said, and leapt off of Appa's head.

Katara screamed, but the sound was whipped away as air rushed around his ears. Taking in a deep breath, he stretched one hand out towards the fire. He'd never actually tried this technique, it was the most advanced practical technique that a fire bender could learn. To extinguish flames with fire bending alone.

Come to me. Aang willed, pulling at the flames with all his might.

The flames leapt away from their food, crackling as they leapt towards him. It took Aang all of three seconds to realize he'd made a mistake. The form was supposed to drag the heat out of the flames. Instead, he had literally brought an inferno straight at him.

He blasted the flames back with a massive gust of airbending. Extinguishing the fire but not the wave of heat that slammed into him, knocking him out of the sky.

He could feel the heat-burns covering his arms and face, they were minor but would take at least a day to recover from.

He plummeted to the ground. Above him, Appa dove for him, but they were too high, and he was also near the ground.

He blacked out.

Aang woke up lying on a bed. He was sore, and he could still feel the heat where the burns on his arms and face were. Yet, he'd had worse as a child, one of his cousins had been a firebug after all. Actually, they were a lot more minor than he had been worried about.

He sat up, realizing why they had felt cooler as several wet clothes fell off his body. He winced. Spirits, his back hurt, but nothing seemed to be broken… or at least it didn't seem like it. He stood and sighed in relief as his legs didn't give way.

Looking around, he frowned. He was in a building made of wood. He was still on Kyoshi?

He darted out of the room, skidding to a halt as he found himself face-to-face with Suki.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, looking surprised.

"Where are Katara and Sokka?" He asked, looking around.

"Probably still leading that fire bender away. They'll be back soon, I'm sure. It's kind of hard to save the world without the Avatar," she said. Aang frowned but then nodded.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"Not long," she replied. Pausing, she looked Aang over carefully.

"That was really brave what you did. You probably saved our whole village," Suki said. Then her face lit up.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," she walked to a table and leant over, grabbing a handful of green and brown fabrics.

"These are for you," she said. Aang frowned as he took the fabric from her. A green tunic, loose brown pants and boots.

"Clothes?" he asked, holding the tunic up. It was his size.

"You probably don't want to walk around constantly saying you're the Avatar. With the fact you have an earth kingdom name, some earth kingdom clothes should hide your nationality perfectly," she said. Aang frowned.

"But I don't want-" he stopped himself then bowed.

"Thank you," He said. Suki smiled tightly.

"It's no problem. Just be careful, will you? It's going to be hard to convince people to join your cause. You're going to need all the help and luck you can get," she said. Aang frowned then sat on a cushion.

"Why are you even helping me in the first place?"

"You just saved my village, I'm pretty sure that means you aren't going to be telling any of our secrets to the fire nation," she said and laughed softly.

"You're a good kid Aang, Sokka was adamant of it. He challenged me to fight. Said if he won I'd take my warriors back and leave you to your own devices,"

"He won?"

"No, he lost. Fives times in a row. But he wouldn't stop until I listened to what he had to say," she smiled wistfully, her eyes distant.

"You've got a good friend in him, you know that?" she asked, meeting his eyes again.

"I know," Aang said, smiling brightly.