Chapter 3

该页暂无翻译

Chapter 3 As we flew over the Earth Kingdom I glanced down and saw that we were right above a thick, swampy forest. Suddenly a huge tornado came out of nowhere! "Faster! We've got to go faster!" I called, but it was no use. We were going down! The tornado tossed us around and around and we finally splashed down into the swamp. Katara and Aang landed next to me, but there were no signs of Appa or Momo. They could be anywhere in the thick tangle of vines, roots, and branches. Fortunately, I had the right tool for dealing with unruly forests—a machete. "Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp," Aang said as I started hacking away. "Aang, these are just plants," I said, not bothering to stop. That night we made camp and quickly dozed off. But before I could fall into deep sleep, something woke me up. It was a vine! It had a tight hold of my ankle and was pulling me deeper into the jungle. I had to slice my way free and run, but wouldn't you know it, the vines started chasing me!

The swamp was alive. "I'm sorry, swamp, I'm sorry, but please don't drag me into the murky water," I said. Then it let go of me. "Stupid swamp," I muttered. I had to find the others to tell them what happened, but I stumbled and plopped down into the muck. Then I heard someone calling my name. "Hello? Is there anyone there?" I called back. I looked up toward the voice and couldn't believe my eyes. A ghostly image floated above the swamp. It was Yue, princess of the Northern Water Tribe. A girl I really cared about. And who I couldn't save at the North Pole. No, it couldn't be her. That's impossible. Yue was gone—forever. This was just a trick of the light, or swamp gas. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath—and Yue was still there. "You didn't protect me," she said, and disappeared. I felt even more sad and alone. I miss you, Yue. I'm sorry I let you down. I continued wandering through the stupid swamp for what seemed like forever. Then I heard a noise. Something was coming toward me. I tightened my grip on the machete, and—OOF! Whatever it was just crashed into me. "Aang! Katara! What are you doing? I've been

looking all over for you!" I exclaimed, excited to see them. "I was chasing some girl," Aang said. "I thought I saw Mom," Katara added. "Look we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us," I told them. "That's why we all saw things." "All our visions led us here," Aang said, a little too knowingly. "Okay, so where is 'here'?" "It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling to us." Okay, this was some of that creepy, magical Avatar stuff that I have a hard time buying. If I can't see something, eat something, or battle something, I don't believe in it. Suddenly a huge swamp monster rose up from the water and attacked us! After a long battle, with me slashing and Aang and Katara bending, we discovered that it was just a Waterbender bending the water in the vines. "See? Completely reasonable," I said to Aang. "Not a monster. Just a guy defending his home." "This whole swamp is actually just one tree, spread out over miles," the Waterbender explained. "The

tree is one big living organism. Just like the entire world." Oh, great. More magical, mystical Avatar stuff. But when Aang touched the huge tree, he had a vision of Appa and Momo. He saw where they were. We wasted no time in rescuing them from some local Waterbenders and finally got out of the swamp. If I never see another one again it'll be too soon! We arrived in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling. A guy on the street handed us a flyer for Master Yu's Earthbending Academy, and it had a coupon good for one free Earthbending lesson. "Maybe this could be the Earthbending teacher you're looking for," Katara said to Aang. But the guy at the academy turned out to be a sleazebag. All he was interested in was getting Aang's money. Then we heard about an Earthbending tournament, called Earth Rumble Six, where the best Earthbenders in the world would be competing. It was kind of a win-win thing. Aang would get to see the best Earthbenders, hoping that one of them might be able to teach him, and I would get to be in the crowd for the sporting event of the year. After a few preliminary matches, the champion

came out—and it was a young girl who was blind! She called herself the Blind Bandit. How in the world did she become the champ? "She can't really be blind," Katara said. "It's just part of her character, right?" "I think she is," Aang said. "I think she's going down!" I said. But no, she fought hard, Earthbending like crazy and beating a guy called the Boulder, who was three times her size. It was amazing! After that defeat, the guy who ran the tournament, Xin Fu, made an announcement. "I'm offering this sack of gold to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!" There was silence. "What? No one dares to face her?" he taunted the crowd. All of a sudden Aang jumped into the ring. "I will!" he shouted. "Go, Aang! Avenge the Boulder!" If anyone could beat the Blind Bandit, it would be Aang. He was going to wipe her out! But then Aang said the weirdest thing to the Blind Bandit. "I don't want to fight you. I want to talk to you," he said. Okay, Aang, you have lost your mind. No talking! We're here to win! Well, the Blind Bandit didn't want