by Tom Mason and Dan Danko
illustrated by Shane L. Johnson
Based on screenplays by Tim Hedrick,
Aaron Ehasz, Michael Dante DiMartino,
Brian Konietzko, and John O’Bryan.
© 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon,
Nickelodeon Avatar: The Last Airbender and all related titles, logos and
characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
Based on the TV series Nickelodeon Avatar: The Last Airbender ™
IF YOU ARE READING THIS,
you have uncovered one of the four hidden scrolls
I have compiled about the world of Avatar. This
scroll contains sacred stories, legends, and facts
that I have gathered so far about the mysterious
Air Nomads—their history, their culture, and the
great tales of their past. I hope that this information
will be as useful and intriguing to you as it is to me.
As a guardian of the Air Nomads’ legacy, I ask
that you keep this scroll safe and share it only
with those you trust. Beware, for there are
many who wish to expose its secrets. . . .
Water.
Earth.
Fire.
Air.
These are the four nations of our world and the
four elements that bind it together.
A few select people of each nation possess the
ability to manipulate their native element. They call
themselves Waterbenders, Earthbenders, Firebenders,
and Airbenders.
The most powerful bender in the world is the
Avatar, the spirit of the planet incarnate. Master of
all four elements, he maintains world order and keeps
the planet balanced and peaceful.
The four nations lived together in harmony until
the death of the last Avatar, Avatar Roku. Seizing the
opportunity before the next Avatar—
an Airbender—could be found and trained, Fire Lord
Sozin led the Fire Nation on a global campaign to
wipe out the three other nations.
Only the next Avatar can stop the Fire Nation
from conquering the planet, but most people believe
he had disappeared during the war on the Air Nomads.
One hundred years after Avatar Roku’s death,
two teenage siblings have made a discovery that will
forever change the destiny of the world: They have
found a twelve-year-old boy frozen in an iceberg. His
name is Aang, and he is the last Airbender known to
be alive. He is also the world’s last hope for peace and
harmony.
He is . . . the Avatar.
My name is Katara
and my friend Aang
is the Avatar. It’s
his job to save the
world, and it’s
my job— and
my brother’s,
too—to help him.
Of course, I don’t
know how to do that,
so I’m hoping it’s
something I can learn
along the way.
My brother, Sokka,
and I are members of
the Southern Water Tribe.
We found Aang frozen in
an iceberg at the South Pole
where we lived. Can you
believe that?
A frozen boy!
Waterbender Katara, who recounts a tale of
dashed hopes and enduring faith.
When the Fire Nation launched their war more
than one hundred years ago, the first people they
attacked were the Air Nomads. No one had seen an
Airbender since then.
Aang was an Air Nomad and the only one I’d
ever met. I thought he was the last Airbender on the
planet, but I didn’t want to tell him that right away.
You don’t just wake up someone from a block of ice
and tell him everyone he ever knew is gone.
Aang had been raised at the Southern, Jongmu Air
Temple. Now he wanted to see what had happened
to it and the other Airbenders he had known. We
began our journey to the temple like we usually do,
riding through the air on Aang’s flying bison, Appa.
I have no idea how we’d get around without Appa!
Eventually, the temple appeared on the snow-
covered mountain ahead of us. One hundred years
ago, when Aang lived here, it must have been beautiful.
Now it just looked forgotten. The stone walls were
covered in thick vines and overgrown plants. I didn’t
think anyone had been there for a long time.
“Aang, I just want you to be prepared for what you
might find here,” I said. “The Fire Nation is ruthless.
They killed my mother. They could have done the
same to your people.” I didn’t want Aang to get his
hopes up.
“Relax, Katara,” said Aang. “Just because no one
has seen an Airbender doesn’t mean that the Fire
Nation killed them all. Besides, the only way to get to
an Airbender temple is on a flying bison. And I doubt
the Fire Nation has one.”
Aang was so confident, but I still had a bad feeling
about this trip. He hadn’t really seen what the Fire
Nation could do—what it had been doing for a
century. Destruction was the Fire Nation’s favorite
pastime.
“So, where do I get something to eat around
here?” my brother said, obviously unconcerned about
anything else.
“Sokka, you’re lucky enough to be one of the first
outsiders to ever visit an Airbender temple, and all
you can think about is food?” I
scolded him.
“I’m just a simple guy with
simple needs,” he replied.
Sometimes Sokka’s a little
too
simple!
“C’mon! We have a whole
temple to see!” Aang raced
ahead of us and disappeared
inside. Food would have to
wait! Sokka kicked absently
at a cluster of vines, pushing
them out of his way.
“Hey, check this out, Katara.” Sokka pointed at
his feet. There was a tattered Fire Nation flag and two
rusty Firebender helmets on the ground.
I knew it! They had been here! This
was not good.
“Katara, you have to tell Aang,” said Sokka.
I shook my head. There was no way I was going
to tell him. I remembered how I had felt when I lost
my mother, and I wanted to protect Aang from that
kind of pain.
“Hey, guys!” Aang called from somewhere above
us. “Over here! I want you to meet somebody!”
Somebody? Who could it be?
Inside the temple, Aang stood in front of a decaying
wooden statue of a monk with a bald head and a
long mustache. The monk had an arrow tattoo on
his head just like Aang’s—he was an Airbender too.
Aang bowed to the statue.
“Who’s that?” Sokka asked.
“Monk Gyatso!” Aang said, rising. “The greatest
Airbender in the world. He taught me everything
I know. He told me that my questions about being
the Avatar would be answered when I was old enough
to enter the Airbender sanctuary. I’m ready now.”
were splintered and worn with age. Gnarled vines
strangled the hinges and covered the doors’ ornate,
horn-shaped carvings. I don’t think anyone had
opened the doors in a long time. I hated to imagine
what Aang was going to find inside.
“No one could have survived in this sanctuary for
a hundred years,” I said.
“It’s not impossible,” Aang replied. “I survived in
the iceberg for that long.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Aang wasn’t the only
one to survive that long either. Appa had survived
with him. If a twelve-year-old Airbender and a flying
bison could still be alive, who was I to disagree?
“Whoever’s in here might help me figure out this
Avatar thing,” Aang added. “They could tell me what
I’m supposed to do and how I’m supposed to do it.”
Sokka tried the doors, but they wouldn’t budge.
“I don’t suppose you have a key?”
Aang laughed. “The key is Airbending.” He thrust
his hands forward and steadied his feet on the ground,
bending his knees slightly. Wind swirled around his
arms as he took a deep breath. Air surged into the
two horn-shaped carvings on the door. Three clicks
sounded from the turning locks and the doors creaked
open.
“Hello? Is anyone home?” Aang’s voice echoed in
the sanctuary.
It was spooky. A chill shivered through my body.
In front of us were hundreds of large, wooden statues.
They encircled the room on multiple levels, floor to
ceiling.
“Aang, who are all these people?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but I feel like I know them somehow.”
Aang pointed to the statue in front of him. “Look,
this one’s an Airbender, just like me.”
The one in front of me was a Waterbender.
“They’re lined up in a pattern: Air, Water, Earth,
Fire.”
“That’s the Avatar cycle,” Aang pointed out.
“They’re Avatars!” I realized. “Aang, these people
are your past lives.”
Aang was awestruck. His eyes scanned the countless
statues. “So many . . .”
“Past lives?” Sokka looked at me skeptically. “Oh
please, Katara. Do you really believe in that stuff?”
I did believe it because it’s true. “When the Avatar
dies, he’s reincarnated into the next nation in the
cycle.” Looking around the room, I could see there
had been a lot of Avatars before Aang.
Aang examined a statue of a bearded Firebender
with long, flowing hair. A glimmer of white light
passed over the statue’s eyes.
“Aang, who
is that?” I asked.
“That’s Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me.”
“You were a Firebender in your past life?” Sokka
asked. “No wonder I didn’t trust you when we met.”
A long shadow fell across the floor. It looked like
a Firebender with a spiked helmet. They must still be
here!
“Firebender!” Sokka whispered. He pulled us
behind one of the statues as the shadow moved closer.
Sokka whipped out his boomerang, ready to attack.
The shadow moved closer and was nearly upon us.
My heart thumped loudly in my chest. Could we
really fight a Firebender on our own?
Sokka leaped out, ready to fight . . . a lemur! What
a relief!
The startled lemur jumped into the air and flew
out of the sanctuary window.
“Bet you didn’t know they could fly!” Aang said
as he snapped open his wooden staff and converted
it into glider form. He chased the lemur out of the
sanctuary with Sokka racing close behind him. I
wanted to join in the fun, but I had a lot of things
on my mind. I stared into Avatar Roku’s blank eyes
What had Monk Gyatso meant when he told Aang
about the sanctuary? I knew the key lay in the Avatar
statues. A cold wind blew through the sanctuary
doors and I shivered again. I looked around the
sanctuary—it was filled with a powerful white light!
The eyes of all the Avatar statues were glowing!
I could tell that something powerful was happening
to the Avatar spirit. I raced from the sanctuary and
into the temple courtyard, looking for Aang.
An icy wind caught me by surprise. Aang had
created a windstorm! His feet were braced on the
ground, spread wide, and his eyes and tattoos glowed
like the statues inside. I’d never seen Aang like this
before. His arms swirled around him, gathering the
air. A huge blast of wind shot from his hands and
knocked Sokka backward to the ground!
“Aang!” Sokka’s voice trailed off into the wind.
“Come on, snap out of it!”
I fought my way through
the freezing wind, dodging
flying tree branches and
broken vines. “Sokka! What
happened?”
Sokka crawled to me.
“Aang
found
out the
Firebenders were here, and
that they killed Gyatso,” he
yelled. “Then he just started
freaking out!”
“It’s his Avatar spirit—the
shock must have triggered
it!” I yelled. The spirits of the previous Avatars had
joined together to give Aang all t
his power. “I’m
going to try to calm him down!”
A tree branch whipped past Sokka’s head. “Well,
do it before he blows us off the mountain!”
Aang didn’t have the full abilities of an Avatar, but
he was already pretty powerful—powerful enough to
hurt us if I wasn’t careful.
I struggled to walk through the strong winds
toward Aang. Even though the currents blew me off
balance, I knew I had to talk to him. “Aang! I know
how hard it is to lose the people you love. . . .” I hoped
my voice was strong enough to pierce the wind and
reach him. “Monk Gyatso and the other Airbenders
may be gone, but you still have a family.” We had
only known each other a short time, but we shared a
strong bond. I hoped Aang felt the same way.
The winds died down. Aang could hear me and
I moved closer to him. “Sokka and I,
we’re your
family now.”
“Yeah, and we’re not going to let anything happen
to you,” Sokka added. “Promise.”
The winds ceased. Swirls of debris fell to the
ground around us. I ran to Aang. The glow from his
eyes and tattoos faded away and he slumped into my
arms, exhausted.
“I’m . . . I’m sorry,” Aang said. His voice was
hoarse.
“It’s okay,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“If Firebenders found this Air temple, that means
they found the other ones, too. I really am the last
Airbender.” I had never seen Aang so sad or heard
his voice so soft before. All of his usual liveliness was
gone.
We visited the temple sanctuary one last time.
Aang stood in front of the statue of Avatar Roku,
waiting for some sign, some clue about his future.
“Any luck?” I was hoping that something would
happen.
“Not a peep,” Aang replied. “How is Roku