Chapter 4

Chapter 4 One night in our camp, Toph rushed from her tent and woke us all. "There's something coming toward us." Her supersensitive feet were picking up vibrations of something rumbling closer and closer. "Should we leave?" Katara asked. "Nature seems to think so," I said, watching tons of animals flee from the woods in terror. "Let's go." We all climbed onto Appa and took off into the night sky. I caught a glimpse of what was chasing us. It was this strange machine made of metal and shaped like a tank, coughing up black smoke. I didn't know what it was, but I had a really bad feeling about it. No matter how far or fast we went, it kept finding us! I finally guided Appa up a high mountain to a steep cliff. It followed us to three different places before we finally decided to stand our ground and see who or what it was. Turns out it was these three Fire Nation girls who we had dealt with in Omashu, including the Firebender who had chased Bumi and me through the Omashu mail chutes. They began galloping

一天晚上，拓芙从帐篷里冲出来，把我们都吵醒了。 “有什么东西朝我们过来了。” 她那双超级敏感的脚正在感应到什么东西越来越近的震动。 “我们应该离开吗？”Katara问道。 “大自然似乎是这样想的。”我说，同时看着成吨的动物惊恐地从树林里逃出来。 “我们走吧。”我们都爬上阿柏，飞向夜空。 我瞥见了追赶我们的东西。 这是一种奇怪的机器，由金属制成，形状像坦克，冒着黑烟。 我不知道那是什么，但我有一种很不好的预感。 不管我们走得多远多快，它总是找到我们！最后，我带着阿柏爬上一座高山，来到一个陡峭的悬崖边。 它跟着我们去了三个不同的地方，直到我们最终决定坚守阵地，看看它是谁或什么。 原来是我们在奥玛舒打过交道的这三个火宗女孩，包括那个从奥玛舒邮道追我和布米的火宗。 他们开始疾驰

toward us. Toph unleashed some spectacular Earthbending moves to block them, but they dodged the huge rocks and kept on coming. It was clear to me that we weren't going to stop them. So once again we climbed aboard Appa and took off. I know how tired I am. I can only imagine how exhausted Appa must be, carrying all of us, flying all night with no sleep. Hmm… I wonder why it feels like we're flying downward? Appa! He's dozing off! Okay, now we have to land, no matter what. Appa needs to rest! On the ground, Katara and Toph started arguing about whose fault all of this was. "If this is anyone's fault, it's 'sheddy' over there," Toph yelled, pointing at Appa. "He's been shedding his fur and leaving a trail for those girls to follow!" I can't believe my ears! That's so unfair! I don't care if she is my Earthbending teacher. Nobody talks about Appa like that when I'm around. "How dare you blame Appa! He saved your life three times today! You always talk about how you carry your own weight, but you don't. Appa does. He carries your weight. And you know what? He never had a problem flying when it was just the three of us!" Oops. I think I went a bit too far. I didn't really mean it. I'm just exhausted, and I don't like anyone

向我们走来。拓芙施展了一些惊人的御土术来阻挡他们，但他们躲开了巨大的岩石，继续涌来。 我很清楚，我们不可能阻止他们。 于是我们又一次爬上阿柏，起飞了。 我知道我有多累。我能想象阿柏有多累，带着我们所有人，整夜不眠地飞行。 我想知道为什么我们感觉像是在往下飞？ 光电!他在打瞌睡！好了，现在我们必须着陆，无论如何。 阿柏需要休息！在地面上，卡塔拉和拓芙开始争论这一切都是谁的错。 “如果这是谁的错，那就是那边的‘谢迪’，”拓芙指着阿柏喊道。 “他一直在脱毛，给那些女孩留下了痕迹！”我不敢相信我的耳朵！这太不公平了！我不在乎她是不是我的御土术老师。 我在的时候没人这么说阿柏。 “你怎么敢怪阿柏！”他今天救了你三次！你总是说你能扛起自己的重担，但你没有。 光电。他承受着你的重量。 你知道吗？只有我们三个人的时候，他从来不觉得飞行有问题！”哦。 我想我有点太过分了。 我不是那个意思。我只是太累了，谁都不喜欢

saying bad things about Appa. Still, I was a bit harsh.… I wonder what she'll say.… "See ya," she said finally. Then she picked up her bag and disappeared into the forest. "I can't believe I yelled at my Earthbending teacher and now she's gone. I just tossed away my best chance of beating the Fire lord, of saving the world… of doing my job as the Avatar." "I was pretty mean to her too," Katara admitted. "We need to find her and apologize." The worst part is, it turns out Toph is right! Appa is shedding like crazy. Now that I look I can see his fur everywhere. I need to come up with a plan.… First we washed Appa's shedding fur off in the river so that he wouldn't leave another trail. Then I told Katara and Sokka to take Appa and go find Toph. Meanwhile I grabbed a bunch of Appa's fur and flew around, leaving a fake trail in a totally different direction. This way if the tank follows the fur, it will be way off course. I hope I can make things right with Toph, but first I've got to stop those girls. After flying around spreading Appa's fur, I landed in this town in the middle of nowhere. It's completely deserted. I should probably leave, but the thing is, I

说阿柏的坏话。 不过，我还是有点苛刻。我想知道她会说什么。“再见。”她最后说。 然后她拿起她的包，消失在森林里。 “我不敢相信我对我的御土术老师大吼大叫，现在她走了。 我刚刚放弃了打败烈火王、拯救世界……履行神通职责的最好机会。” “我对她也很刻薄，”卡塔拉承认。 “我们得找到她，向她道歉。” 最糟糕的是，拓芙是对的！阿柏正在疯狂地脱毛。 现在我看了看，到处都能看到他的毛。 我需要想出一个计划。首先，我们在河里把阿柏掉毛的毛洗掉，这样它就不会留下别的痕迹了。 然后我让卡塔拉和索卡带着阿柏去找拓芙。 与此同时，我抓了一堆阿柏的皮毛，飞了起来，在一个完全不同的方向留下了一个假的痕迹。 这样，如果坦克跟随皮毛，它就会偏离航线。 我希望我能和拓芙和好，但首先我得阻止那些女孩。 在飞了一圈给阿柏撒了毛之后，我降落在了这个荒无人烟的小镇上。 它完全被遗弃了。我应该走了，但问题是，我

can't keep running forever, can I? I can't lose sight of my bigger mission. The time has come to face whoever is after me. I think I'll just sit here and wait for them to find me, and find out what they're after. What's that sound? It's the Firebender! "All right, you've caught up with me. Now, who are you and what do you want?" It's time to settle this once and for all. "Don't you see the family resemblance?" she asked. Then she covered one eye with her hand and said in a low gravelly voice, "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor." Zuko! She sounds just like him. And now that I look closely, she looks kind of like him too. Is she Zuko's sister? Did they send her to track me down now? Did something bad happen to Zuko, and she took his place? Come to think of it, I haven't run into Zuko in a while.… Wait a minute, why am I worried about Zuko? He's devoted his life to trying to capture me for the Fire Nation. Besides, I'm the one in danger! I wonder if she's as powerful as he is. "So, what now?" Let's see what she's made of. "Now it's over," she said. "You can run, but I'll always catch you." Like brother, like sister. "I'm not running." "Do you really want to fight me?"

我不能永远跑下去，对吧？ 我不能忘记我更大的使命。 是时候面对追杀我的人了。 我想我还是坐在这里等着他们来找我，看看他们想要什么。 那是什么声音？是火宗！“好吧，你追上我了。 现在，你是谁，有什么事？”是时候彻底解决这个问题了。 “你看不出他们的家族相像吗？”她问道。 然后她用手遮住一只眼睛，用低沉沙哑的声音说：“我必须找到神通，恢复我的荣誉。” Zuko !她的声音和他一模一样。 现在我仔细看，她看起来也有点像他。 她是祖寇的妹妹吗？他们现在派她来找我了吗？ 祖寇出事了吗，她取代了他的位置？ 想想看，我有段时间没碰到祖寇了。等等，我为什么要担心祖寇？ 他一生都在为烈火国抓捕我。 再说，有危险的人是我！我想知道她是否和他一样强大。 “那么，现在怎么办？”让我们看看她是什么做的。 “现在一切都结束了，”她说。 “你可以跑，但我总能追上你。” 有其父必有其子。 “我不会参选。”“你真的想跟我打吗？”

"Yes, I really do." Okay, I know I didn't say that. Who—Zuko? Where did he come from? Has he been following me too? Are they going to team up against me? "Back off, Azula," Zuko threatened. "He's mine." Just back away slowly. The last thing I need is to face two Firebenders at the same time. Still, it doesn't seem like they're going to fight me as a team. They don't seem to like each other very much. It must be tough for Zuko to have a sister who seems so coldhearted. Wait a second—do I actually feel sorry for Zuko? Is that possible? "I can see you two have a lot of catching up to do," I said. "So I'll just be going." I guess I shouldn't have said anything. Just then, both Zuko and Azula turned toward me. I can't escape. I'll have to battle them both. Zuko looks more anxious than me. Is he afraid of his sister? Azula is just smiling—her smile makes my skin crawl. There's no way out of this without fighting—I just hope I have the strength to make it out alive. Azula just struck—but not me. I'm okay. She's attacking Zuko! Why are they so bent on attacking each other? Never mind, there's no time now. I have to protect myself. Actually, I think the only thing keeping me alive

“是的，我真的喜欢。”好吧，我知道我没那么说。 Who-Zuko吗?他从哪里来？ 他也在跟踪我吗？ 他们会联合起来对付我吗？ “走开，阿祖拉。”祖寇威胁道。 “他是我的。”慢慢地后退。 我最不需要的就是同时面对两个火宗。 不过，看起来他们不会像一个团队来对抗我。 他们似乎不太喜欢对方。 祖寇有个这么冷酷无情的妹妹一定很难受吧。 等等，我真的为祖寇感到难过吗？ 这可能吗？“我看得出来你们俩有很多话要讲，”我说。 “所以我要走了。”我想我不该说的。 就在这时，祖寇和阿祖拉都转向了我。 我逃不掉。我得和他们两个都打。 祖寇看起来比我还焦虑。 他怕他妹妹吗？ 阿祖拉只是在笑——她的笑让我起鸡皮疙瘩。 不战斗是没有出路的——我只希望我有力量活着出去。 阿祖拉只是打了一下——但不是我。 我很好。她在攻击祖寇！他们为什么如此执意要互相攻击？ 没关系，现在没时间了。 我必须保护自己。事实上，我觉得唯一能让我活下去的