A few days were spent at the Temple; during that time, Hama learned the customs of the Air Nomads, and she even joined some of the classes I'd taught, copying the other children's movements. I also took her flying once, in which she used the bo-staff she had taken from the armory without any shame. Seeing her struggle to remain balanced was amusing, especially when she ended up falling and screaming.
Anyway, after a few days, we eventually departed from the Temple, though we didn't quite leave the Southern Air Temple's territory as we made a pit-stop at Memorial Hill.
"What's this place, Aang?" Leaning over the edge of Appa's saddle, Hama glanced down at the hill filled with rows of tombstones, causing me to lower my head slightly. "Memorial Hill. It's where the ones who fought against the Fire Nation are laid to rest." "O-Oh."
As Appa descended, he gently landed, prompting me to hop off while Hama slid down his side; reaching into one of his satchels, I grabbed a pair of incense and approached a specific tombstone amongst the many.
"Why is there such a huge gap between some of the tombstones?" "Sky Bison also lost their lives during the invasion. They were laid to rest beside their companions." "How could they kill Sky Bison's? They're so adorable and gentle." Muttering softly, Hama glanced at the tombstones before turning around and hugging Appa's head, rubbing her cheek against his soft fur, causing him to softly growl.
"I agree, but they can be just as savage. Do not forget, Appa is a 12-ton beast of pure muscle; he needs the intelligence to be gentle because he knows he'd accidentally crush us without even realizing." Glancing back at Appa and Hama, the former softly growled while the latter looked at him with a new light. "Though, then again, Appa is too lazy to do that." "Roar!" "I told no lie."
Dismissing Appa's little rebuttal, causing Hama to chuckle, I slowed my steps down as I stood before a single tombstone; sitting down, I placed the incense into the small pot, lighting it on fire with a snap of my fingers while Appa plopped on the ground beside me, in front of Gyatso's companion's tombstone.
"Who was he, Hama?" Squatting beside me, Hama leaned forward lightly, curiously glancing at the tombstone. "Monk Gyatso, he was my mentor; he taught me most of my airbending. He was also a friend." Faintly smirking, briefly reminiscing about Gyatso, I stood up, clasped my hands, and deeply bowed for several seconds.
"You're not going to offer any words to him?" "No. Gyatso has long since entered a new life; let the old life stay in the past." Nodding faintly, Hama stood up and copied my actions. "Thanks for teaching, Aang, Monk Gyatso." "So you're going to ignore what I just said and speak to him anyway?"
Folding my arms, I raised an eyebrow and eyed Hama, who flashed a smirk. "I'm from the Southern Water Tribe; we have our own customs." "Fair enough. Oh, we Air Nomads have another custom, it's where we put our fingers together like this."
Outstretching two fingers towards Hama, she briefly looked at my hand before doing the same. "Huh, like this?" As she touched my fingers, I surged a pulse of electricity into her body, causing her body to go stiff before she began to slowly fall to the side.
As she fell to the ground, her body frozen stiff save for her eyes, which were darting around in confusion and shock, I squatted down with a smile. "Gyatso also had a habit of pranking people. I'm sure this would've been his response."
Lightly smiling, I poked Hama's nose, only to furrow my brows when I smelled a bad but very familiar scent. "Do you smell that, Appa?" Glancing at Appa, who had significantly better scent, he inhaled the air before growling and covering his nose.
Scratching my cheek, I glanced back down at Hama, only to notice her crotch area was wet, causing my eyes to widen slightly. "Oh, that's why it was familiar. Seems the electricity activated your bladder muscles." Shifting my gaze to Hama's face, she was staring daggers at me while a heavy blush blossomed on her cheeks.
"Your Grandmother always remarked that I tended to take my pranks a bit too far." That glare of hers turned to pure hostility, causing me to wryly smile as I touched her fingers with my own, sending a pulse of electricity through her, freeing her body. Instantly, she moved, rising to her feet while her chest heaved up and down, staring at me with unbridled fury and embarrassment.
"Will an apology suffice?" Faintly smiling, Hama proceeded to raise her hand, controlling the pee from her clothes until it gathered into a ball, causing me to nervously gulp. "I suppose it'll not." Without wasting another second, I turned around and darted across the hill, while a murderous Hama trailed closely behind me with a urine sphere that had my name on it.
'Not to self. Do not use that prank again.'
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After the whole ordeal with me pranking Hama, we left Memorial Hill while she refused to speak to me for an entire week, which made the travel rather awkward.
Eventually, after enough apologies, she finally came through our relationship returned to normal, though I knew she would get her revenge somehow, so I remained on guard during the adventure.
During our trip, we visited a few unknown locations; the first was the Bhanti Island, where a group of Bhanti sages lived. It was dangerously close to the Fire Nation, so we saw a lot of ships along the way, but the Bhanti Island remained undiscovered. They housed a different kind of sky Bisons, ones with slightly darker fur, though Sky Bisons were Sky Bisons at the end of the day.
After a short week, we headed deeper into the Fire Nation, visiting one of their cities, specifically, North Chung-Ling, which would be Fire Fountain City in the future; of course, given how xenophobic the Fire Nation has become, they wouldn't let us enter their territory, so we quietly snuck in at night.
"Um, Aang, a-are you sure we should be here?" Staying close to me, Hama nervously observed the city as we walked through the streets while I shook my head, frightening her. "T-Then why are we here!?" "Exploration." "Y-You just want to get me killed, don't you? I-If you don't like me, just say it, Aang!" Glaring at me in fury, I softly chuckled.
Hama was wearing typical Fire Nation attire, blending in perfectly, and I was also wearing similar clothing while having grown my hair out in advance to cover my tattoo.
Stopping by a restaurant, I entered, grabbed Hama's hand as she hesitantly followed, and found an open seat; we sat down before being served. "Ah, a beautiful couple, what can I get you two?" Whether it was because of the man's words or because she was simply terrified of being found out, Hama quietly lowered her head, causing me to chuckle.
"I'll have the vegan dish, and she'll have the steak dish." "Oh, the steak dish? Splendid! A true woman needs to have some meat on her bones." With a faint smirk, the man glanced at Hama before walking away.
"Did he insult me by calling me skinny?" With an annoyed expression, Hama promptly raised her head, causing me to shrug. "I'll refrain from commenting, though I'm amused that being insulted is what broke you from your fear of being discovered."
Instantly, Hama reached across the table, covering my mouth with her hand while aggressively shushing me. Once our food arrived, we ate, paid, and left, returning to the city's streets.
We stayed in North Chung-Ling for a total of three days. The first two days were spent having fun, which Hama found difficult to do, though she eventually got into it. As for the third day, the morning was mostly the same, though I secretly tipped off the local soldiers, so by afternoon, we were running through the city, fleeing them.
Dodging a fireball, I thrust my palm behind me, knocking a few soldiers onto the ground; Hamma gathered a bunch of water, creating a shield around her that deflected a large fireball made from two soldiers before lashing out with a whip of water, slamming them both into a street vendor.
"Dammit! Chase them! Don't let the Air Nomad and Waterbender escape!"
"H-How did they discover us!?" Glancing behind us at the numerous soldiers in pursuit, Hama tossed the remaining water onto the ground, then froze it, creating a patch of slippery ice. "Oh, smart thinking." Of course, her quick thinking only affected the first few soldiers as the others simply melted it.
"N-Now isn't the time to praise me, Aang! Do you want to get captured!?" "Hmm, well, that would be an interesting experience." I knew of the two prisons for fire benders and water benders, but I didn't know what the jail for an air-nomad would be like. 'Oh, now I'm very interested.'
"AANG!"