for a century at a time like him.
“Dad, he’s the Avatar,” Teo explained. “He used
to come here a hundred years ago.”
“Who said you could live here?” Aang demanded.
The Mechanist paced the stone floor. “A few years
ago, my people had to flee a flood. I lost my wife, and
Teo was badly hurt. We needed a place to rebuild.”
“Of course!” I realized. “And it needed to be safe
from floods, so you looked high in the mountains.”
“That’s right!” he said. “I stumbled across this
place. Couldn’t believe it. Pictures of flying people
everywhere! But there was no one here.”
He spread his arms out like wings. “Then I came
across these flying machines.”
“Our gliders,” Aang said.
“Yes! They gave me an idea: Build a new life for
my son . . . in the air! That way everyone would be on
equal ground, so to speak.”
Teo took Katara and Aang on a tour of the temple
while the Mechanist showed me his workshop. What
an operation! He was working on dozens of projects.
Charts and scrolls were stuffed into every nook and
cranny. The man had plans for machines that no one
had thought of before. He showed me a prototype of
a hot-air balloon that could carry a hen’s egg through
the air. I felt privileged to get a glimpse of how this
guy’s mind worked.
A loud bell rang in the workshop. Alarmed,
the Mechanist raced out the door. I followed right
behind, hoping he would let me help him fix whatever
invention wasn’t working.
I could learn a lot from
this guy.
I caught up to the
Mechanist at the entrance
to the temple’s sanctuary.
Aang, Katara, and Teo
stood in the doorway,
staring. Swords, arrows,
spiked
metal
wheels,
pieces of armor, and other
weapons I didn’t recognize
filled the large room. But I did recognize the Fire
Nation insignia.
“You make weapons for the Fire Nation!” I was
stunned.
Teo looked furiously at his father. “Explain this.
Now.”
The Mechanist looked trapped. He sighed.
“A year after we moved here, Fire Nation soldiers
found our settlement,” he said quietly. “You were
too young to remember, Teo. They were going to
destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded
with them and they asked what I had to offer.” The
Mechanist took a deep, sad breath. “I offered my
services.”
I couldn’t believe it. This genius was working for
the Fire Nation! How could he do such a thing?
“When are they coming back?” Aang asked sharply.
“Soon,” the Mechanist said. “Very soon.”
“You can’t give them more weapons,” Aang said.
It was not a request. I couldn’t agree more, but the
Fire Nation doesn’t take no for an answer. I knew we
would have to fight them.
Katara, Aang, Teo, and I stood on the balcony
overlooking the mountains. The Fire Nation soldiers
would arrive soon, and while the temple is a natural
fortress, I doubted we could defeat them. “This is
bad, very bad,” I said.
“We can take them, Sokka,” Aang said. “We’ve
done it before.”
“I don’t think you understand, Aang,” I explained.
“Teo’s dad told me the mountain is full of natural
gas.” I pointed down a deep crevasse. “Just one spark
of flame could send this whole place sky high. How
can we stop Firebenders from Firebending?”
“We can keep them away from the mountain. We
have something they don’t.” Aang pointed to the sky.
“Air power: We control the sky!”
“He’s right,” Teo agreed. “We can win this.” I
wasn’t so sure.
The Mechanist joined us. “I have something in
my workshop that can help.” He smiled at me, and
I remembered something I had seen downstairs. We
did have a chance!
We were ready by the time the Fire Nation soldiers
arrived. They marched single file up the steep
mountain path, stomping their heavy boots into the
packed snow.
Aang and Teo attacked from the air, dropping
stink, smoke, fire, and slime bombs from their gliders.
The soldiers were pushed back down the mountain.
Then Aang shot a current of air at the mountainside,
creating an avalanche of snow. The pass was blocked.
Score one for our side.
But the soldiers had a way around it. Huge tanks
rolled up the cliffs, spitting flames. It was time for me
and the Mechanist to join the fight. I couldn’t wait!
I tightened the valve on the giant Warballoon.
It was just like the prototype I had seen in the
workshop, only this model was one hundred feet high
and carried something much more effective than eggs:
a half dozen slime bombs hung from the side.
Our balloon flew over the temple and the Fire
Nation soldiers. They paid us no attention because
the balloon was marked with the Fire Nation insignia.
“They think we’re on their side,” the Mechanist
said.
“Then I guess they won’t expect this!” I cut one of
the ropes. “Bombs away!”
Bull’s-eye! The bomb splattered below us, covering
the Fire Nation tanks and soldiers in sticky gunk.
They froze in place, unable to move. I carefully cut
the other bombs loose as we floated by. Each one
found its mark, halting the tanks’ advance. We were
winning, but more tanks kept coming and we had
run out of bombs.
“What are we going to do now?” I asked. The
tanks were closing in on the temple. There had to be
something we could do. I didn’t want to lose this battle.
Down on the ground, I saw Aang twirling his
staff, sending blasts of air at the tanks. The gusts flew
under the machines and flipped them over, but he
couldn’t hold them all off.
“We’re losing,” I yelled. “What else do you have in
your workshop?”
“Not in my workshop, Sokka,” the Mechanist
said. “Down there—the gas in the mountain!” He
pointed to a fissure in the rocks below.
Of course! That gave me an idea. I grabbed our
balloon’s heating unit and ripped it from the floor.
“What are you doing? That’s our fuel source!” the
Mechanist shouted.
“It’s also the only bomb we’ve got left,” I explained.
He smiled. We tossed the flaming fuel container
over the side of the balloon and watched it crash into
the fissure. Our aim was excellent!
A huge explosion blew the Fire Nation tanks from
the mountainside. Their metal shells collapsed into
the valley below and were buried in a landslide.
The Fire Nation was forced to retreat. Today was our
day!
Together, we had used science and invention to
defeat the Fire Nation. But we had one more
problem. Without its heating unit, our balloon was
slowly falling from the sky toward the rocks below.
“Hang on!” Aang leaped from the temple and
hit the air. He steered his glider toward our sinking
balloon.
I looped a rope around my boomerang. When
Aang flew past, I threw the boomerang around his
glider. The Mechanist grabbed on to my end of the
rope just as the rope tightened and pulled us from
the balloon. Aang carried us to safety as our balloon
crashed into the trees below.
We all celebrated when we returned to the temple.
The Fire Nation had been defeated for now. Teo’s
people could live in peace, and his father wouldn’t
have to work for the enemy anymore. The Mechanist
would have more time to invent things for his own
people.
Aang took one last look around the temple. “I’m
really glad you guys live here now,” he said to Teo.
“Really?”
Aang picked up a hermit crab that scrambled past
his feet. “It’s like the hermit crab: Maybe you weren’t
born here, but you found this empty shell and made
it your home. And now you protect each other.”
“That means a lot coming from the Avatar,” Teo
said.
“You were right about air power, Aang,”
I told him. “As long as we’ve got the skies, we’ll have
the Fire Nation on the run!”
Though the Air Nomads appear to have been wiped
from the Earth, elements of their legacy linger. The
largest permanent structures they built were the four
Air temples. Places for learning, quiet meditation, and
the study and practice of Airbending, their grounds
featured reflecting pools, grassy fields for outdoor
games, gardens, historical murals, statues, and more.
Time has changed their appearance and function.
The uninhabited Southern Air Temple is now
overgrown with vegetation. The Northern Air Temple
is now occupied by a band of refugees from the Earth
Kingdom who are remodeling the temple to suit their
needs.
Below is an outline of the remnants of the Air
Nomad civilization and the ways in which they have
changed over time.
Airbenders derived their power from the air. They
could channel a light breeze into the force of a tornado
and ride air currents like they were flying. Air was the
most important natural resource to Airbenders. Without
air, they were powerless. With air under their control,
they could protect and defend anyone, even against the
Fire Nation.
The
Air
Nomads were
peaceful
and
environmentally friendly. They tried not to leave
a mark on the land, and any
industries they created, such
as farming and gardening,
were powered naturally.
They also produced their own
food.
INDUSTRIES
The Mechanist has taken
over the Northern Air Temple
for his fellow refugees and
is remodeling it with his
inventions.
The
is
good at lifting people to
new heights. Inside the
temple they can move
quickly between levels by
using the compressed-air
elevator. Outside they can
soar through the air in their
custom-built gliders.
Even his smallest inventions were designed
to be useful. Notched candles filled with
spark powder are clocks; they
spark the time every hour.
The
Mechanist’s
jointed
wooden
fingers replaced the
ones he lost while
making his finger-
safe knife sharpener.
Fireflies
in
paper
lanterns are bright but,
unlike torches, don’t use
fire—very important in a mountain
containing natural gas!
THE MECHANIST’S
INVENTIONS
Larger inventions are
just as practical, although
they can sometimes be
dangerous: The enormous,
steam-powered telescope
gave the Mechanist his
trademark circular scar!
Of all of the Mechanist’s
creations, the Warballoon
may be the greatest. Using
hot air, it is able to fly long
distances while carrying a
heavy load of large slime
bombs.
THE POWER OF THE AIR
should never be underestimated, especially
when it’s in the hands of the last Airbender.
From Jongmu to the Northern Air Temple, Aang
had searched for his people, only to
realize that he truly was the last of his kind.
The defeat of the Fire Nation at the Northern
Air Temple was only one victory in a larger war. The
Fire Nation will continue its hunt for the Avatar and
its quest for world domination, strengthened by the
return of Sozin’s Comet, which is expected by the
end of the summer. It is then that Fire Lord Ozai
will use the comet’s immense power
to finish the war once and for all.
As I conclude and seal this scroll, Aang has
already played a larger role in an epic battle, helping
the Northern Water Tribe to defeat Admiral
Zhao’s navy at the North Pole. The Fire Nation is
regrouping, and Aang is on his way to mastering the
three remaining elements: water, earth, and fire.
This is all I know so far. Please do not show this
scroll to anyone whose trustworthiness you doubt.
The fate of the world is in your hands!