"How much longer until we get there?" Toph asked impatiently as the spaceship hurtled though space at immense speed. This whole trip had made her antsy as she hasn't enjoyed being away from solid ground for this long.

"It shouldn't be long now. We should be getting a visual on Pandora sometime soon." Sokka told her. The trip across space has made the gaang tired.

"Your spaceship design is still really impressive Sokka." Katara encourages her brother.

"Yeah, too bad that when the inventor and I came up with the plans for these spaceships the fire lord used the idea for evil. No offense Zuko." Sokka mused as he ruminates on the ever-expanding reach of the fire nation.

"None taken. That's pretty much been his whole thing." Zuko remarks admitting that his family is still a touchy subject.

"We knew he was evil, but we could have never imagined that he would make an alliance with the earth kingdom and the water tribes. All of that just to attack the people of Pandora." Suki remarks. The gaang can feel how insurmountable the odds are stacked up against them.

"My brother has always had great ambitions. His need to conquer cannot be contained to just one planet. With our experience it might just be enough to defeat him." Said Iroh.

"Yeah but come on guys we've faced worse than this." Aang tells the group as he comes from grooming Appa's hair in the stable. "It's the avatars job to bring balance to the world. Now with Ozai threatening the balance of another world it's our job to stop him. The Na Vi are a strong people. They can fight back against Ozai. We just need to show them how. If we give it our all we can win this fight." Aang said to lighten the mood.

"Hey, we're coming up on Pandora we should be able to see it." Sokka announces to the gaang. Everyone except Toph goes over to the window to gaze upon Pandora. A lush blue and green world orbiting around a blue gas giant. As the gaang lay their eyes on the planet they can't help but feel that feeling. That indescribable feeling that comes from knowing how small you really are and how little of an impact you really have.

"Do you think they have tea? I haven't had a cup for months." Complained Iroh. Sokka had to maintain a planned environment on the ship so that meant they couldn't boil tea.

"I have absolutely no idea, uncle." Said Zuko. As he stares in awe at pandora.

From the time they spotted the planet it took them six hours to land on the surface. When their craft touches down and the doors open up the Gaang immediately burst forth out into the open air.

"Land! Sweet Land! I've missed you so much!" Toph yells as she plunges into the dirt. She joyously digs herself into the ground like a badger mole. Covering herself in unfamiliar dirt. The entire gaang is grateful to be out of that ship. Aang didn't have any fresh air to bend for the entire trip. The minute he breathes in the fresh air of Pandora the mood overtakes him. He whips out his glider and launches into the air. It just feels so good for him to air bend again. He loves feeling the fresh wind in his face.

"Oh it feels so good to get out of that cramped ship." Katarra exclaims as she stretches her arms. She's eager to find a large fresh water source so she can bend as well.

"Yeah I'm sure we all want to take some time and smell the flowers but we can't. We have to get right down to business." Sokka tells the group keeping them focused on their goal. "We have to find the Na Vi." He said. Aang lands on the ground and folds his glider back up.

"The Na Vi live in a place called home tree." Aang said.

"Let me guess It's a very big tree that they call their home." Zuko says half sarcastically.

"Exactly, they have a connection to the nature of this planet that is unlike anything else. They've dug into this tree and if we find it, we'll find them." Aang tells the group.

"Come on everybody let's get on Appa and start searching." Katara tells the group. They all pile onto the back of Appa's saddle and the big beast takes off into the clouds. As the gang flies over the trees, they look down to see the flora and fauna that makes up Pandora. Trees and plants that are far different from the ones on their world and animals that they couldn't even imagine.

"Wow this planet is so amazing!" Katara exclaims to Aang.

"Eh, yah seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times." Toph quips remarking on how she is disconnected from the earth while flying on Appa. The flight takes a dark turn when the group sees black smoke on the horizon. The smoke of a wildfire.

"We all know what that is don't we?" Sokka said to the group. Deep in their hearts they just know it's the fire nation.

"Yeah it's our problem. Let's land and stop them." Aang tells the group as he spurs Appa. The gaang prepares for battle as Appa takes them to the sight of the smoke. Appa hovers over the sight and the group looks down. They see a battalion of fire nation tanks steadily driving forward. The tanks are accompanied by fire bending foot soldiers burning the trees and the underbrush clearing the way for the tanks. Also among the battalion is a collection of earth kingdom tanks. Along with some earth bending soldiers using their bending to shift the ground. Clearing out the plants and animals and making way for the exploratory military march that the fire nation and earth kingdom are taking. A display of indiscriminate destruction with military precision. 

The gaang can barely believe that the fire nation and the earth kingdom are working together for this operation. After all the war these two factions waged on their home planet, to see them working together is almost surreal. Aang prods Appa to land on the clearing site. The flying beast lets out a mighty roar as he descends on to the soldiers. When he lands the gaang jump off his back and spring immediately into combat. Aang uses his air bending to knock over some of the tanks and the soldiers. Katara uses her water bending to put out some of the fires. She uses the water she keeps on herself in her water skins but she might need more. She can sense a nearby river that she might need to retreat to in order to replenish herself. Toph can knock over the tanks with ease using her earth bending. But every once in a while, she uses her metal bending to cripple those large machines beyond repair. 

Zuko engages the enemy in combat using his dual swords. He uses the blades as conduits for his fire bending the ground troops cannot stand up to his prowess. Iroh shows those same troops the full power of his fire bending with the spryness of a man twenty years his junior. Sokka and Suki don't have any bending abilities but they enthusiastically joined in the fight. Dressed in full armor, Sokka with his sword and boomerang, and Suki with her battle fans they attack their enemies. They make short work of the ground troops. Appa gives them great assistance by knocking over the tanks with his massive horns. The battle is fierce and relentless. 

The gaang has to give it their best against the fire nation and earth kingdom soldiers. Eventually the tide of the battle turns and the gaang starts winning the battle. During the thralls of battle a few earth kingdom soldiers separate Suki from the group. They force her off into the jungle away from the others. The dangers of the unfamiliar terrain present themselves. As Suki faces off against the two earth bending soldiers that wish to trap her something comes out from the forest brush. A wild thanator jumps out and tackles to two soldiers. With its spiked teeth and razor-sharp claws the Pandoran monster takes down the soldiers with the ferocity of a lifelong predator. 

Suki is horrified by the sight of this beast. With its black skin and deadly snarl. The only thing she could recall to compare it to would be a tiger dillo from her world. Suki runs off in the opposite direction terrified of the beast. The thanator chases her following its predatory instincts. The rest of the gaang finishes up the fight as the soldiers begin their retreat. As the dust settles and the gaang recomposes themselves they take stock of who is left after the battle.

"Is everyone all right?!" Aang calls out to his friends.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka asks. Everyone is mortified to possibly think they lost her. The gaang starts calling out "Suki!" In order to find her hoping that she'll reveal her location.
Meanwhile Suki is eagerly sprinting through the trees away from the thanator. She does her best to navigate the unfamiliar terrain of Pandora. Eventually she comes along a waterfall, making a split-second decision she jumps down the waterfall and into the water at the bottom of the falls. By some miracle she doesn't hit a rock, and she puts a good amount of distance between her and the thanator. 

The beast arrives at the top of the falls in search of its prey. It can't find Suki with any of its senses. The thanator searches for a few moments as Suki stays hidden under the water. Eventually the beast moves on as it admits defeat. With the beast gone Suki sticks her head out of the water. She gets out and starts drying herself off. She's lucky to be alive after that ordeal. As she recomposes herself, she hears something off in the distance. She hears the voice of Sokka calling out to her.

"Suki!"

"I'm down here Sokka!" Suki calls out over the roar of the waterfall. When all of a sudden, a stone hand comes out of the forest and covers up her mouth. A second stone hand comes out and grabs her waist. The hands drag her off into the jungle without another sound. It was the Dai Li that took her for any multitude of evil purposes. Sokka reaches the top of the waterfall without seeing Suki or the thanator. Appa and the rest of the gaang are right on his tail calling out Suki's name trying to find her.

"The sun is starting to go down Sokka. We should get in the air before it gets dark." Zuko tells Sokka.

"Not without Suki!" Sokka said with distress covering every word.

"Come on Sokka, On Pandora you do not want to get stuck out here in the dark." Katara tells him to try to talk some sense into him.

"That's why we have to get Suki out of here!" Sokka raises his voice.

"Sokka I know you're scared for her. But she can take care of herself for a while. If we meet with the Na Vi they can help us out and conduct a bigger search. We're not going to get far by ourselves." Aang said. Sokka is fuming with emotion, mostly fear and anger.

"Fine, but this isn't over until we find her." Sokka said Cryptically. The gaang gets on Appa's back and take off into the setting sun. As darkness falls on the land of Pandora the gaang get some sleep on the safe back of the air bison. They look down to the forest below and see a light show. The bioluminescence of the plants and animals on Pandora create an astonishing show for the gaang. A cavalcade of blues and greens. The gaang looks down in awe as they can only imagine all the things that make those lights. They eventually fall asleep, and Appa eventually finds an elevated mountain to sleep on. He needs some rest too. 

In the morning when the gaang wake up they find that Appa has taken them to mountain range. But a mountain range unique to pandora. These mountains float up into the sky. Large rock formations hovering and moving like they are lighter than air. Appa flies the gaang around as they look at this amazing site.

"I'm sensing something." Said Toph. "It's like there's large chunks of earth floating in the air. I can feel them."

"That's the best way I can describe it." Said Katara.

"They're called the hallelujah mountains. I know earth and air are usually opposites, but this seems like a good way for them to get along." Said Aang.

"I think you might be on to something twinkle toes." Toph said enthusiastically. The morning sun breathed new life into all of them. After a few minutes of exploring the natural beauty the gaang are set upon by something. They are far from the only thing in the sky. They are surrounded by a murder of banshees. The breed of flying reptiles that fills the Pandora sky. Definitely an encounter the gaang wants to avoid. Nevertheless, they're up to their ears in banshees. The only animal comparable to these things would be dragons from their world, and those are nearly extinct. Appa lets out some defensive growls trying to scare the banshees off but to no avail. After a few moments the gaang notice that these banshees have something Attached to their backs. It's riders riding the banshees. The blue humanoid race called the Na Vi. The Na Vi let out a series of high-pitched yips as they ride. The gaang could recognize these as a battle cry or some kind of language.

"This doesn't look good." Zuko said preparing for a fight.

"No, this is who we're looking for. These people are Na Vi." Aang said.

"Well, we better find a way to tell those guys we're friendly or we might be food for those flying lizards." Sokka exclaimed with his hand on his sword.

"I don't think it'll come to that. We just need to follow their lead." Aang said confidently with his staff in his hand. The Avatar jumps off of Appa and falls downward. Then he unfurls the wings on his glider and catches the wind. He starts flying through the air among the banshees. Momo joins him in the air with his little bat wings. Flying through the hallelujah mountains is an amazing experience. The feeling of the fresh air on Aangs face fills him with vigor. The Na Vi on their banshees follow in formation around him. They are curious as to how Aang is able to fly without the use of a banshee. They form up behind the avatar. Aang performs a coordinated flight routine that is meant to show that he is an ally. Though they come from different cultures they share the common activity of flight. Aang eventually has to end their synchronized dance in the skies and lands on a floating mountain rock. Appa and the rest of the gaang land just behind him and the Na Vi land their banshees on the opposite end of the rock. They look Like two sides standing off against each other. The gaang hop off Appa's back and square up behind Aang. The Na Vi dismount from their Banshee and approach the gaang. The gaang are shocked at the sight of these large blue people. They are substantially taller than them and their hands have four fingers. The air is tense as the two factions size each other up.

"Who are you?" One of the Na Vi asks the Gaang. The Gaang realize that it's a miracle that they speak somewhat the same language.

"My name is Aang I am the Avatar. I believe your people are expecting me. We are here to meet with your leader. The one called Taruk Makto." Aang proclaims to the Na Vi. He can only hope that they understand him. After a few moments of tension. One final Banshee comes soaring through the sky and lands on the Na Vi side. This final blue alien man dismounts and unhooks his pony from his banshee. He approaches the gaang with a different swagger from the other Na Vi. They notice that this one had five fingers on his hands instead of four.

"They call me the Taruk Makto. But my friends call me Jake." The blue man introduced himself in a deep and warm voice. Aang and Jake shake hands.

"Hello Jake, I'm the Avatar." Aang introduced himself and they unlock hands.

"Avatar huh? That's definitely interesting. I could tell you a story about it later but right now how about you introduce me to the rest of your squad." Jake said.

"Of course. This is Toph, Zuko, Iroh, my girlfriend Katara, her brother Sokka, and the big guy is Appa." When Aang said his name Appa let out a big growl that spooked some of the other Na Vi. "And the little one is momo." Aang said as the lemur bat plops himself on his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you all. Do you think you can help us fight off these new sky people?" Jake asked.

"We have invaluable knowledge about the factions invading your world." Katara told him.

"Let's talk about it back at home tree. Follow us, we'll take you there." Jake tells the gaang as he mounts his banshee. The other Na Vi mount their banshee as well and the gaang gets back on Appa. They all take off headed for the same destination, home tree.

The gaang and the Na Vi finally make it to home tree. The gaang are astounded to see the place. They can't help but fall in love with the idea of a tree being big enough to house an entire village. From the air they see all the Na Vi living their lives in peace like little blueberries. Jake guides Appa to land just outside of the tree. When the bison lands and the gaang dismounts him, they are swarmed with Na Vi. Most of them just give them stares but some have comments in Na Vi that the gaang can't understand. Some of the Na Vi are even afraid of them because they look like the sky people that have caused them so much anguish. The gaang feels a little uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Do you think these guys will accept us?" Toph asked the group.

"Well, it might be hard because they think benders like us are the bad guys." Zuko posits his opinion.

"Jake, how can we smooth this over." Aang asked him with a little bit nervousness in his voice.

"Come with me we'll see the village elder. Her name is Mo'at if she signs off on you, you'll be golden. Don't worry I'm in good with her she's, my mother-in-law." Jake erasures them.

Jake takes the gaang to Mo'at. As they approach her it seems like a thousand blue eyes are staring at them. At the center of the home tree where the entire village gathers for ceremonies. Mo'at is on her throne with Neytiri by her side. They can't help but acknowledge the commotion that the gaang are bringing their way. It isn't long until the gaang are in audience with the village elder. All the noise and commotion settle down as they wait for the elder to speak. Jake announces their arrival speaking in Na'vi.

"Great elder. It is my honor to introduce Avatar Aang and his squadron. They are here to learn our ways and help us in the battle against the sky people." Jake said with respect for his new allies in his voice. Mo'at looks upon the gaang, examining them with her critical eye. The gaang feels a unique kind of awkwardness. They want to make a good first impression and also want to be sensitive to the Na Vi culture. They put on their best smiles and try to look friendly for the elder. Mo'at rises from her chair and walks over to the gaang to get a better look at them.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Avatar Aang." Aang greeted the woman. She approaches the Avatar to get a better look at him. She has to admit she had never seen a sky person that looked just like him. With his bald head and blue arrow tattoos.

"We are fighting an open war. We need armies and you have brought only a handful of children." She assesses the gaang with skepticism.

"I assure you ma'am we might be young, but we've fought against the fire nation countless times. There might not be that many of us but our insight into this enemy is invaluable. We defeated these guys on our world with just the few of us and we can do it again here." Aang reassures the elder.

"Just because you succeeded on your world does not guarantee that you will succeed on ours. If you want to achieve victory, then you must learn our ways. If you understand these people and this world, then just maybe your insanity can be cured." The elder decrees before sitting back down on her throne. The looks a bit confused and looks to Jake for clarification.

"I think you did good. She accepts you." Jake said.

"Oh, that's good. I was nervous there for a second." Said Aang.

"Excellent, do you folks have any tea? I haven't had a cup in the longest time." Iroh asked Jake.

"Yes, we have tea." Jake said with a bit of a chuckle. "Come on let's introduce you guys to everyone and get comfortable." He said as the Na Vi people approach the gaang like new friends they want to meet.

"Well, it's good to see that we're welcome." Katara said as she tries to be friendly to the Na Vi.

"Yeah, just try your best to not use that magic of yours. What do you call it?" Jake asks.

"You mean bending?" Zuko fills him in.

"Yeah, that's it. These people have lost a lot to all that bending so maybe try to not go too crazy with it." Said Jake. Not knowing what he just said was a bit insensitive. Bending is a part of their culture. To ask a bender to not bend would be like asking them to stop breathing.

"We're benders! We need to bend!" Said Toph with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"We'll get plenty of opportunities to bend on the battlefield. But let's just try to tone it down around the nice blue people okay Toph." Said Aang.

"Fine." Said Toph frustratedly. The Na Vi might not know it, but she relies on her bending the most as she needs it to see. 

"Thanks so much for that. In the meantime, there's someone I really want you to meet." Jake tells the gaang as Neytiri approaches them through the crowd. "This is my wife Neytiri." Jake introduces her to the gaang. Katara is the first give Neytiri a smile and extend a handshake.

"Hi, my name is Katara." She introduces herself she has to look up and extend her hand upward because the Na Vi woman is so much taller than her. Neytiri looks at her with disgust. Like she just ate something bad and it's making her sick. She snobbishly ignores Katara and talks to her husband.

"How can you bring these sky people here? They cannot be trusted." She tells Jake speaking in Na Vi so the gaang could not understand her.

"These are good people they're not like the others. They could help us a lot. They could end this fight quicker, save some lives." Jake told her in Na Vi.

"I do not trust them." Said Neytiri.

"There was one time when you trusted an outworlder and it changed everything for the better. I'm just asking you to do it again." Jake told his wife.

"If you are wrong about these outworlders then it could devastate our people." She said to him and then walked away.

"So, I didn't understand any of that but I can tell that she's not happy about us." Katara told Jake. The whole gaang feels the same way.

"Yeah, she's pretty tough. She might take a while, but she'll warm up to you. But these are really nice people, you'll fit in just find." Jake told the gaang. Off in the background they hear Appa making some noise. Some of the Na Vi kids have climbed on top of him and the furry bison is flying around. The kids are laughing as Appa raises them into the air. The gaang can't help but laugh at this scene. If all the other interactions with the Na Vi go this well then, they're going to love staying here.

The Gaang spend the afternoon exploring home tree learning the customs of the Na'vi. Iroh even got to drink some tea which he thought was better than any tea he had back on his home world. Even though he couldn't pronounce any of the ingredients that was in the tea.
When the sun goes down Jake takes Aang to see a very important landmark, the tree of souls. Aang is amazed by this tree. Its glowing tendrils spiral around the earth in an amazing light show unlike anything he's ever seen before. Aang has spent a majority of his time on this world being astounded by the things around him. Now he has Jake to serve as his guide and show him a multitude of wonders that this planet might hide under the surface.

"What is this place?" Aang asked him while hypnotized by the lights swirling around him.

"This is the tree of souls. It's the most spiritual place for the Na Vi. You see the Na Vi worship a goddess named Eywa. The mother goddess that makes up all things. The Na Vi believe that with enough prayer and meditation that they can use this tree to speak to Eywa. They can use this tree to talk to their long-lost ancestors. I don't know if you could understand anything like that but it's very important to these people." Jake explained to Aang.

"I think I'm one of the few people who can understand it perfectly. On my world we have an entire world of spirits that has to live in harmony with the physical world. As the Avatar I'm the bridge between the physical world and the spirit world. All this talk spiritually talk makes perfect sense to me." Said Aang.

"There's that word again, avatar. Why do you call yourself an avatar?" Jake couldn't help but ask.

"You see, on my world any person who can use bending can only bend one element. Fire, earth, water, or air. As the Avatar I can bend them all. It's a great power that comes with a lot of responsibilities. I have to protect the balance of my world and now that bending has made it to your world, I have to respect the balance here too." Said Aang.

"I only ask because ... well it's a long story. You see I didn't always look like this. I had another body that looked a lot like yours and your people. I couldn't bend any elements; hell, my legs didn't even work, and I had roll my ass around in a wheelchair. Do you have wheelchairs on your world?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, I knew a kid in a wheelchair. He helped invent our spaceship." Aang said.

"Interesting, so my people could use this technology called the avatar program. Where we could put the brain of a human into the body of a Na Vi. So this body right here is my avatar body. This got me out of my wheelchair and after all the conflict between the Na Vi and the people from my world, I made this permanent and I've been a Na Vi ever since. That's the short version of it but that's what I think an avatar is." Jake explained hoping that Aang could understand any of it.

"Well, that's quite a story. I guess we're just two different avatars from two different worlds." Aang said looking on the bright side of it all while trying to get his head around some of the more far out concept he just heard.

"Yeah, I don't know if I can live up to the same level as a super magic spirit kid, but I guess I can try." Jake said chuckling a little bit. Aang smiled and let out a few chuckles as well.

"So, what can you tell me about the enemies we're facing?" Jake asked turning the conversation in a serious direction. 

"His name is fire lord Ozai. He's caused a lot of destruction on my world. I've fought him many times, but he retreated to here to this planet. I only regret not taking him out when I had the chance." Said Aang.

"I've known combat for what feels like my entire life. I've been fighting even before I turned blue. So, the way I see it all I have to do is give you the chance to take out Ozai once and for all." Said Jake.

"That's going to be easier said than done. We've already lost one of our own. Before we found you, we had one other, a girl named Suki. We got separated during a fight with Ozai's forces. She's still out there in the forest can you help us find her?" Aang asked Jake.

"We'll send out some scouts in the morning. Banshee riders can cover big areas of the forest really fast. If you want to find her that's your best bet." Jake told him. In the back of his head Jake new that this girl is most likely dead. He knows how dangerous Pandora is to those who don't know it. He doesn't want to tell that to Aang.

"Thank you that would be a great help to us." Said Aang. While the two of them had this striking conversation a collection of woodsprite have gathered around Aang. Little glowing spores that float through the air like falling leaves. They gather around the air bender with a dazzling light show.

"What are these things?" Aang asked while the sprite tickle him.

"They're the woodsprite. I think they like you. This is a sign that I think you're going to fit in really well in this place." Jake tells him. Aang can't help but freeze in place as the woodsprite move up and down his body. He doesn't want to disturb them. Out of everything he's seen over the past two days these woodsprite are his favorite so far.