Appa had hated Crescent Island on sight. The smoke and fire was off-putting, of course, but there wasn't a damned thing to munch on. His descent was reluctant, even worn out as he was. The bay itself was pretty, but in a sinister way, all crescent-curved glossy black rock cutting up from bright water, and it just made anyone sensible want to find literally anywhere else to land. The temple sat above the ridge was like a lance piercing from the more dormant smaller hill beside the smoking volcanic peak. The well-maintained walkway from the small harbor was almost like a practical joke, as if it being cleaned off would do anything to stop a sudden flood of lava from claiming random pedestrians.
So dark and jagged, Aang didn't struggle to guide Appa down behind an outcropping where the temple's shadow fell long and heavy. When the bison lowered himself with a grumbling huff that sounded like, 'you better come back before I catch fire', he was at least completely invisible from more than a few paces away.
"We'll be quick," Aang promised, already sliding down the saddle, and tossing a bulbous melon of some kind under his legs that Appa caught, munched twice, paused, swallowed, and gave him a look like he'd at least tolerate the dreadful conditions.
Sokka, spear-bundle held outstretched and vertical like a cursed laundry basket, leaned in close to Aang. "If it goes berserk, I am throwing spear of doom into the ocean."
Raven's eyes cut to him. "I wouldn't recommend that."
Sokka blinked. "Oh, is Arzaya a lost legendary steambender?"
Raven raised an eyebrow, actually gave a single quiet chuckle, and rolled her eyes as she sighed and said, "I doubt it, but the legends passed down of what happens if Arzayanagi is abandoned are, hmm—well, let's just say they all required the Avatar of the time to resolve." And she gave a dismissive wave as she started out ahead, not to rush, but to pre-emptively keep up with everyone—that limp wasn't exactly fading fast.
Turning Arzayanagi in his hands, Sokka clutched it more firmly, but also held it further away, always keeping one eye on the thing like he knew it wanted a piece of him.
Katara grabbed Aang's sleeve before he could take off jogging. "We have, what, a couple hours at most before Zuko and Zhao get here?"
"We should be back on Appa within the hour if you don't want to dodge more fireballs," Raven muttered, scanning the horizon like she expected smokestacks to sprout out of the sunlight.
Aang nodded urgently. "That's why I want to get going!"
"Definitely inhabited," Sokka said with a nod as each gleaming, clean lantern blazed slightly as Arzayanagi passed by them. "Nice polish." He vaguely praised, glanced to Arzayanagi, and added in baby-speak, "but not as nice as yours, spear of doom, no need to get jealous!"
"You really shouldn't do that," Raven said through rising breaths, Katara holding her up so they could match Aang's impatient pace.
"I think Arzaya and I have established quite the rapport—she thinks I'm hilarious, and in return she doesn't turn me into charcoal," he assured Raven with honestly too much confidence. "I mean, if she hasn't killed me for it yet—" he tried to insist, but cut off at Raven's unshakeable lack of being impressed. "Yeah, I'll stop."
The path to the temple was so perfectly maintained it felt like someone knew they were coming. The black stone steps were swept. The gold inlays along the railings had been polished until they caught the sun and threw it back like a glare. The sages of the temple had to be either deeply faithful or equally bored.
Halfway up to the main door, Katara's eyes narrowed, taking it all in. "This place is incredible."
Sokka whispered to Raven, "Ever met these sages or whatever?"
"Probably at ceremonies," Raven offered, but admitted, "I wouldn't remember them," like that would be beneath her.
"Maybe don't tell them that," Sokka murmured, and she grinned back to let him know she's not that stupid.
At the top, the temple doors stood ajar already. Not quite welcoming open. More like forgotten in a rush. They had to pull and use all their weight to make the gap wide enough for comfort before slipping through.
Despite being the easiest fit through the gap, Aang hesitated anyway, just one breath, then stepped into the entrance hall. It swallowed the sunlight, and offered the flickering orange of many small flames instead.
The air was warm and dry, sharply different from the smoke and salt just on the other side, and the ceiling rose into black stone ribs that arched overhead like the inside of some giant creature's chest, not quite visible at the apex. The firelight flickered from braziers set into carved alcoves, each one framed by spiraling dragon motifs and old Fire Nation script. Exquisite gold statues of Fire Nation Avatars past stood in disciplined rows, with stone or iron sages in robes bowing gracefully before them. The incense had settled in layers over a thousand years.
Momo immediately launched off Aang's shoulder like a little furry arrow.
"Aang!" Katara hissed, already reaching up like she could catch him mid-flight.
Too late.
Momo swooped straight at the first human figure he saw shuffling through a side door, and slapped into the man's face with both tiny hands like he was doing a bit. The man yelped. Not dignified. Not sage-like. Just a real, warbling hoot as Momo circled his head, then dove through the sleeves of his robes like he'd been there a dozen times.
"AH! Spirits, what is that!"
Aang went red. "Momo! Momo, no! Sorry, he just… you must have food."
The man staggered back a step, hands half raised like he didn't want to hit the animal but also didn't want to be eaten by it, and he pulled him by the tail cautiously out of his own deep pocket. Indeed Momo was already munching on something purplish and juicy, getting it on the poor Fire Sage's red and black, high collared, once dignified robes. His ceremonial headpiece was on the verge of jumping, but he bumped it back into place. His eyes went from innocent terror to kindly reprimand so fast it was a relief to all of them.
"You interrupted my lunch with your arrival, little one," he said as Momo ignored being held aloft and focused on munching, and Aang hurried to snatch him up. "I am the Fire Sage Shyu, and you—well, you must be the Avatar?" He awkwardly smiled and adjusted his crumpled headpiece again.
"Katara, please hold him tight," Aang requested, and she nodded and wrapped both arms around the rabid little fruit-thief.
Sokka shrugged. "He's a great ambassador when he's not hungry."
Katara elbowed him.
Momo chirped happily, restrained in Katara's embrace, like nothing was wrong.
Aang's shoulders loosened a fraction. "Well, I'm Aang. The Avatar, woo, hooray!" he announced, lacking every luster, and he nodded to the others. "This is Katara, Sokka, and Raven."
Raven's face didn't change, but her eyes flicked over Shyu in a fast, measuring sweep. He didn't flinch at her name. He didn't brighten. He didn't show the tiniest sign of recognizing her.
It was… odd.
Shyu bowed again, deeper this time, and his gaze landed briefly on the cloth bundle in Sokka's arms.
"I knew you would be here soon, Avatar," Shyu said softly, "I saw Roku's chamber glow a few days ago."
Aang's excitement was everywhere. "You did? Can we go see him?"
Shyu nodded, expression earnest. "Of course, I would be happy to guide you, Avatar Aang."
Sokka's grip tightened on the bundle like it had suddenly gotten heavier. "Huh, this was easier than I expected."
"Good," Katara kept her voice careful. "Aang needs to speak to Avatar Roku right away."
"Of course," Shyu said, and motioned down the main hall. "Please. Quickly. You're in time, but don't linger."
Raven's eyes narrowed at Shyu. She hadn't remembered his name, but she felt like she'd seen him before, and he should remember her. Aang, however, was already moving, heart thudding with the hope they could get to the end of their current predicament before anything else went wrong.
They followed Shyu deeper into the temple.
The corridor widened into a very long gallery where murals climbed the walls: dragons coiled around blazing suns, firebenders kneeling in ceremony, ancient figures painted in gold leaf that caught the torchlight and made them look like they were still watching.
Sokka craned his neck. "Okay, I admit it. This is… kinda awesome." He nodded to Sage Shyu and said, "nice temple, sage dude."
He graciously smiled back and nodded in thanks.
Raven snorted. "You should see the Arzayan ones." She glanced to Shyu again, who just seemed utterly oblivious. It wasn't quite offending her, but it was certainly a bother.
Shyu moved with familiarity, unlocking door after door with ringed keys. His smile never wavered, and his voice stayed calm as he gestured at carvings and spoke lightly, almost cheerfully as he sorted the keys at each door, giving a quick bit of trivia like, "these are the dragons of Fire Lords past. Very regal, I'd say!" before moving on.
And then, as they passed a side corridor, Shyu's gaze snagged on something. Another door slightly ajar, but just plain blackened iron, nothing of importance. It was just enough to show a sliver of flickering light beyond.
"Oh, whoops!" Shyu's pleasant expression didn't break, but his body moved before his words did. He stepped over fast, closed the door, and turned the lock home with a click that sounded too loud in the torchlit quiet.
Sokka's eyes narrowed.
"I apologize," Shyu said, as if remembering himself. "That wing is unsafe. Recent volcanic damage. Please, do not wander."
Sokka briefly paused, blinking. "Really? I didn't see damage from outside." But he just shrugged it off.
Katara's brow knit, but she didn't push. Aang didn't even slow down. Raven's gaze lingered on the door a heartbeat too long. But they kept going.
A few breaths later, Momo fidgeted in Katara's arms, tiny hands busy with something other than the fruit.
"Momo," she whispered sharply, and plucked the lemur by the scruff with the practiced patience of someone who had wrangled chaos before breakfast. "What do you have?" And she held out the palm of her hand.
Momo chirped innocently and tried to hide his paws around his side. It didn't work. Katara pried them open, and he let out a rebellious chattering before she put him back in the deathgrip against her chest. She held up the tiny golden trinket Momo had, warm from body heat, and it was shaped suspiciously like a certain spearhead, sleek and stylized but very complicated, and small enough to hang on a necklace.
Katara's face tightened.
She angled it toward Raven without making a big show of it. "Did you drop… an earring?"
Raven leaned in.
Her expression changed instantly, but only in the smallest ways. Her eyes sharpened. Her nostrils flared once.
"That's not mine," Raven murmured.
Katara blinked. "You sure?"
Raven's voice stayed low. "Wrong shape for fashion. Wrong detail. See the little notch?" She tapped it lightly. "That's for tying to the hem of a..." she trailed off, and glanced overlong at Shyu's robes, noting that Katara nodded back.
Shyu was still talking, gesturing up ahead, his voice smooth, speaking of a long tapestry depicting very possibly the formation of the very island they stood on.
Raven looked at Katara. Katara looked at Raven. No words. Just the shared, immediate understanding of "oh, that's weird."
Raven's mouth opened briefly. No one was checking, so she had all the space she needed to look uncertain and suspicious. Then, with a scheming brightness to her eye, she lifted her voice just a touch.
"Sage Shyu," she called, polite as a blade hidden in silk, "were you born on the Arzayan Islands? You seem… familiar."
Shyu didn't stop walking. "I have visited," he said easily. "A most beautiful place. I agree the temples there are truly glorious to behold," he went on scratching the back of his head like he was a bit ashamed.
Raven's gaze didn't move. She didn't pause a breath. "Never had the chance to live there?"
Shyu laughed lightly, like it used to bother him but was an easy thing to recall now. "No. They would not have me. They are quite strict, I found, on who they let join."
Katara's fingers closed around the trinket. Raven didn't react outwardly, but something behind her eyes went colder. The instant Shyu was facing ahead, the girls met gazes again to confirm. They both knew. Fucker was lying. But why?
He kept walking, smiling, guiding them toward spiral stairs that now felt like a trap, and Aang was clueless. At the base of those stairs, Katara let out a small laugh. A little too bright.
"Spirits, I forgot," she said, voice casual, "Raven, would you rather wait here? You're still limping, and that's... an awful lot of stairs."
Raven's posture stiffened on instinct, but her limp betrayed her anyway when she shifted her weight. She looked like she wanted to be mad about it, but she caught Shyu's curious eyebrows, and she squashed down that instinct to die.
Shyu turned his head slightly, concern sliding neatly into place. "If you need to rest, Lady Raven, you may wait here. The Avatar should not be delayed." But to Katara and Raven he now felt all too ready to shed some of Aang's allies for whatever was up there.
Katara nodded like she'd merely made conversation. "Right. Aang, let's go. You'll be alright on your own?" Katara sped along, and Raven just shrugged.
Aang blinked. "Whatever, okay?"
Sokka made a rustling fuss as he looked between the girls, then he stepped forward and, very directly, shoved the bundled spear into Aang's arms like he was handing over a baby whose diaper he was not interested in changing.
"Aang, you'll need this," Sokka said, immediate and confident. "Katara, you keep him from doing stupid stuff with it."
Aang's arms locked around the bundle. "Hey!" And he frantically tried to make sure he wasn't holding it in a way that would 'set it off', whatever that might entail.
Sokka kept his calm as he strode confidently over to Raven, with both girls trying not to glare too hard as they wondered what in the world he was up to. Then, with honestly pretty forced cheerfulness, he slung an arm around Raven's shoulders and declared, loud enough for the temple to hear:
"I'll stay with my girlfriend so she doesn't get lonely."
Raven's spine went rigid. Katara's eyes widened. Aang just tilted his head aside, but was too overbooked on spear panic to say anything. Shyu's smile stayed on his face, but his eyes flicked, just once, like a knife glance. It felt like confirmation of some kind to more than half the group. Of what was still a question, though.
Then his expression reassembled itself into something akin to warmth. "How… charming," Shyu failed to say with the same grace as before.
Raven forced herself to stay very still, and did her best not to give her signature murderous glare to the boy, whatever he was up to. Sokka squeezed her shoulder in what he meant as friendly solidarity, and she struggled not to sock him on the chin for the pulse of pain it gave her.
Shyu turned toward the stairs. "Come, Avatar. The chamber awaits." And he led Aang and Katara upwards.
Raven's face didn't change until they were out of sight.
"Uh, sorry if that was weird," Sokka offered as he loosened his grip. "Really not trying to make a move. I promise." And he glanced up the stairs. "Are they gone?"
She shook her head, and her voice came out low and sweet. "You are crushing a bruise, let go or die screaming."
Sokka's hand sprang back like he'd touched a stove. "Sorry. Sorry! I forgot! Bad plan, weird plan—what's that guy up to, anyway?—anyway seriously sorry if that was weird."
"Stop apologizing," Raven frowned, glancing back as she turned on her heel to head back. "You were perfect."
Sokka blinked. "Oh." But he looked to her expectantly as he hustled to keep up with her limping. "We're heading to that door, right? Did something happen?"
"This," Raven said flatly as she held up the Arzayan symbol, "was in his pocket."
Sokka's eyes widened. "Momo subterfuged the guy? Wow, good job Momo!"
Raven's jaw clenched. "He's lying to our faces."
Sokka's frown deepened. "I figured. You're sure?"
"An Arzayan priest, hiding his identity, acting like he doesn't recognize me?" She went on in ever rising tone. "Fucker is up to something."
Sokka offered his shoulder this time, and Raven gladly took it to increase her speed to one-and-a-half limpsworth. "I guess you're pretty important, huh."
Raven stared at him like he'd suggested the ocean was blue.
"I am House Arza's future," she said, low, confident beyond reproach. "He knows who I am. Any priest failing to offer respects is either blind or hiding something, and he saw that open side door just fine, didn't he."
Sokka's throat bobbed. "That he did."
Raven's eyes flicked to it as they reached it, now locked unfortunately. Shoes scuffing as they walked on three and a half legs together, Sokka tested the handle even though it was obviously not gonna budge.
Raven inhaled, and fire lit in her palms, low and controlled, and Sokka hopped back with a yelp.
Raven jut out her palm, stepping into it, and tight burst of flame thudded against the metal. She glared at the minimal effect. "It's reinforced."
Sokka leaned closer. "Think you can blast it with something bigger? Think you dented it a little."
Raven's eyes narrowed, considering. Then she exhaled sharply, annoyed with her own body.
"You," she said, "are going to hold me up."
Sokka blinked. "I was already doing that."
"Carefully. Both arms." Raven's tone made it clear the Arzayan high council had already decided. "I need both feet." But she was less resolute with, "my balance is garbage with this limp"
Sokka hesitated exactly one heartbeat, shuffled behind the significantly shorter girl, crouching slightly to test if she'd kill him for snaking his arms under hers. "Okay. You're Raven the human handcannon. Got it."
Raven's mouth twitched. "Okay, Sokka the human scaffolding."
"Aww, you remembered my name!" Sokka said with mock appreciation, but held her securely anyway, bracing her so she could lift both feet without falling on her ass.
Raven's feet came up, and she proved she could still bend like she meant to kill if she wasn't too mangled to jump. The concentrated blast slammed into the lock and hinges. The metal screamed briefly, and the door was suddenly buried slightly on the opposite side of the hall beyond, rattling before toppling in an absolute catastrophony of soul-rattling noise as it cracked the floor.
"If he's not really up to anything, we're such jerks right now," Sokka breathed out as he freed Raven of his scaffoldy clutches and made for the door, her right on his heel.
The corridor beyond was dimmer, but a little dirty and lived in. The walls were still clean, but it wasn't the perfect polish of the endless display they had seen. There was something a just bit stale or off in the air, and it wasn't volcanic gas, but they couldn't place it.
"Okay, handcannon, hold fire, there's an open one," Sokka whispered too loudly as he crept along the wall to the first of five doors, which was hanging open.
Raven snorted despite herself. "Stop calling me that," but she couldn't hide her smile before he saw it.
Sokka grinned back like he'd defeated her, but they had no time to keep score. They moved quickly to peek, then slip inside the candlelit chamber.
Sokka was disappointed. "This is just his bedroom, right?"
They scanned it all quickly, as there was little to see. A narrow bed, neatly made. A small table without even drawers. Ink and paper but nothing written. No clutter. No personal things beyond a neat stack of replacement robes. Even the bed was easy to see under.
"Huh." Sokka frowned. "This guy lives like a… like a…"
"A priest," Raven muttered, unimpressed.
"Yeah..." Sokka pointed at the other doors back whence they trespassed. "Okay, so. Those must be the dark secret containment closets."
Raven reached out and tried the first.
"Locked," She didn't even sigh. She just raised a hand and fired. The door blew inward with a snap of splintered wood. "Not reinforced."
Sokka approved, "nice."
Raven shot him a grin. "And fast."
They stepped into darkness. It was too cool in the room, like a tomb. Unlike everywhere else, there were no candles or braziers giving a flickering glow.
"So dark," Sokka said, then froze.
Raven raised her hand to carry a flame, and bumped into him. "What?" she quietly snapped, having lost the easy bend.
Sokka swallowed, voice suddenly small. "I… know that smell."
Raven's expression tightened. "What smel—oh... oh no." She knew it too.
Sokka's jaw clenched. "Blood."
Raven's stomach dropped.
She lifted her hand again, although she really didn't want to. Flame bloomed in her palm, lighting the room in orange and gold that cast wicked and predatory shadows. But it was just another simple bedroom, with little to immediately remark on, until she saw the messy sheets and held her hand forward, bringing light to where they heard a pitter-patter of droplets.
They both stared in utter horror.
An elderly Fire Sage, older than Shyu, lay half-propped against pillows and curled up like he'd clutched at his... throat, which was cut anything but clean. His eyes were open, staring at nothing, face locked in the final confusion of someone who had woken up just long enough to realize he was dying. A brief struggle by a spray of red, maybe, but mostly the sheets were soaked dark. The slow drip, drip, drip hit the floor. Fresh enough to still shine.
Sokka's breath hitched, silent. His hand clenched into a fist like he wanted to hit the air until it stopped being real, and they both backed cautiously out of the room like the body might wake up and lunge at them.
They both stared at each other, all color lost between them, not that Raven had much to begin with.
"Raven, don't look like that," Sokka whispered, almost pleading, "please tell me that's some… Arzayan prank."
Raven just shook her head, still stunned.
Sokka swallowed hard. "This just happened. It's... fresh."
Raven didn't answer. She didn't have to. They backed out and Raven blasted the next door, just to be sure. It was the same. An older man who woke up with a second smile to greet the shortest day of his life.
Shyu was upstairs with the others.
Sokka's face went very still, like something inside him had clicked into place. "Katara," he breathed, and it wasn't a name so much as a prayer.
Raven turned, already swaying slightly from the effort and the pain and the sudden need to sprint while being inarguably unable. Sokka didn't hesitate. He crouched and sidled ahead of her, grabbed Raven like she weighed nothing, and hauled her onto his back.
She didn't resist at all, and made a sharp. "Go!"
Sokka hissed. "Hold on."
Sokka bolted down the hall as she clutched on like she meant to tear into him.