Zuko silently wraps up a letter he's written and puts it into the tube on the back of a messenger hawk. Shortly after leaving New Ozai, Zuko intercepted the bird on its way to deliver a message. He didn't bother reading it, instead he burned the message and took the gold that was being carried by the bird meant to pay the caretaker for the animal. He gives the hawk a large piece of trout that he had caught the previous night before tightening the tube on its back. "Deliver this to Mai Asakura, traveling with Princess Azula." He tells the bird before lifting his arm allowing the bird to take flight. He watches as the bird flies off, waking up Momo for a moment before he goes back to sleep. Zuko slowly returns to camp, having used the excuse of having to relieve himself to go and write the letter. As he's walking back into camp, the only person awake now is Iroh, poking at the coals with a stick.

"Every time I have to battle against the firenation, I feel ashamed of myself." Zuko admits after a moment of silence passes between the two. "Like I've brought nothing but dishonor to our family name, I've questioned everything I've done since this journey began. Prince Zuko... What does that name mean anymore?"

"That is for you to discover. No one can tell you what your destiny is, not me, nor the firelord." Iroh says before patting a hand on Zuko's shoulder and rubbing his back. "No one can take away your honor. Because that is who you are, a hero, the symbol of hope, and above all else, you are honorable, more than me, more than your father and more than anyone else in this world."

"Thank you, Uncle." Zuko says before he yawns and then continues to sip his tea.

"You should get some rest... a man needs his rest." Iroh says softly as Zuko finishes the rest of his tea. With a quiet nod, he stands from the seat at the fire and heads off to bed for the night.

The following morning, Zuko elects to be the one to fly Appa, letting the others rest in the saddle through the early morning hours. The conversation with Bumi still fresh in his mind, "You must find a master who waits and listens to the earth before striking." Reflecting on the confrontation with his sister, he meditates on the battle, and with what Bumi told him. How fast Azula went from open and inviting, almost alluring even, with all the temptation of gaining his honor back and going home. He knew her too well for that, "Azula always lies..." He says to himself, though the air rushing past him doesn't let his words travel past him. Beneath him, the skies are wide open, and the arid mountains around the north east part of the earth kingdom begin to change, now a lush forest flies past beneath him. Zuko doesn't pay any attention to the story Yue is telling them about. All he manages to catch is something about her early childhood learning to be a healer.

As the day begins to run into the afternoon, the forests below have changed, now he can't see the forest floor whatsoever. The tree's leaves have changed, now darker and much much denser. In the distance he can see a gigantic banyan tree spreading out over the canopy, then he hears something. What sounds like whispers, echoing from the swamps below, and not just him. Aang also perks up when he hears something whispering to him, he even shushes the others so he can hear it louder. "Zuko, is there any reason why you're taking us down?" Sokka asks as they begin to descend underneath the clouds, he snaps out of the trance-like state he was in before turning to face Sokka. "Oh... I didn't mean to take us down." He responds, "Are any of you guys whispering?"

"Are you sure you got enough sleep, Zuko?" Yue asks, prompting him to nod, "Avatar stuff then?" She asks but Aang interrupts her.

"I hear it too... it's like the forest is... calling to us." Aang responds.

"Why is Aang hearing it too then?" Katara asks, prompting the young airbender to just shrug.

"The air nomads were the most spiritual people, it was said ages ago that the nomads could rid themselves of all earthly attachments and learn to fly without need for glider staves or anything like that. Some of them were even able to visit the spirit world like I did." Iroh speaks up, "I can hear a strange beckoning from the swamps as well."

"Ok, I'm really starting to get weirded out now, I got trapped in the spirit world by Heibai and I can't hear whatever you guys are." Sokka says before turning to Zuko, "I think it'd be a good idea for us to get out of here."

"I agree." Zuko says as he flicks the reins on Appa to gain altitude.

Yue looks down at the forest below, wondering why the three can hear it calling to them her long white hair isn't done up in its braids; instead it flows gently down her back almost all the way down to her hips. As she picks her head up from looking over the side of Appa's saddle she feels her hair be blown backwards. The fast moving air isn't coming from ahead of them, but behind them. She turns to look behind Appa before going silent, her eyes widening in fear as her mouth drops open and she suddenly screams. Her screaming alerts the rest of the gaang to what she's looking at. Immediately they snap to look behind them and that same fear washes over the entire team avatar. A massive extremely fast moving tornado is barreling straight for them, tearing up trees, branches and tossing mud and debris through the air. "Crapbaskets." Aang says as the tornado dances through the ground getting closer and closer. "We're not gonna out run this thing!" Zuko shouts as he leaps off of Appa's head into the saddle with Aang in order to help him create an air sphere to combat the twister.

Sokka grabs Yue around her hip and unties his belt sash before wrapping it around himself and her, tying it to the side hole of Appa's saddle. He wraps his arms around her and tucks her head into his chest as the two airbenders try to combat the tornado. Aang and Zuko stand back to back with their arms outstretched trying to maintain the strength of the air sphere they've created around Appa as the tornado swallows them. Katara and Iroh hold on for dear life as the sphere around Appa is tossed around the tornado. Aang and Zuko straining from the power of the tornado, the sphere they're creating begins to fail. The tornado's winds pierce through their barrier causing their bending to fail leaving them to be swallowed by the storm. Spinning through the air at incredible speeds, the tornado suddenly spits them out separated from Appa...

Zuko is awoken by a cold sensation being pressed to the side of his head, as he slowly opens his eyes he sees Katara healing his head. Beside her Iroh is cutting away some of his robes to create a makeshift bandage. "Remind me... to not fight tornadoes again." He groans as he tries to sit up, as he moves a searing pain radiates around his head. "Ugh... my head." he grimaces as Katara draws up some water before freezing it. She ties the bandage Iroh had made around the ice then wraps it around his head after she finishes healing him. Aang helps him to his feet before giving Zuko his dual swords back, and then the memories of how they ended up here begin to flood back to him. "You have a concussion, Zuko, and a pretty nasty gash on the side of your head. We're gonna have to take it slow through here." Katara says as Zuko begins to try to get his bearings.

"We crashed?" he asks as he looks around the swamps that surround them.

"Yeah, when the air sphere came down, we were thrown off of Appa." Katara says as Iroh throws a hand around Zuko's back to help him walk. "Sokka and Yue tied themselves to Appa but I didn't see if they got thrown off of him."

"Wonderful." Zuko says sarcastically, "we're gonna need to find them..."

"What you need is to rest, Zuko. Let's find a place where we can set up camp for the night. That way Katara can heal you more and you can get some much needed sleep." Iroh says before he draws one of Zuko's twin swords and hands it to Aang. "We're gonna need to cut through here. I'll help carry Zuko."

"This doesn't feel like a good idea." Aang says as he walks a few paces away and then cuts through some vines with a swipe of the sword. "Couldn't we just bend these around us? We don't have to cut the vines." He says before using the air to pull the vines aside so that Iroh and Zuko can pass.

"Hey! Look at this! The vines have water in them," Katara says as she points at the vines Aang had cut. The three look at the cut plants watching as water drips from the stems giving Katara an idea. "Let me try something." She says before lifting her arm upwards allowing her hand to drag behind it slightly. The motion causes the vines to move away, further clearing their path. "I can bend the water in the vines."

"That's all well and good, but we still need to find food and set up a camp for the night." Zuko says before he lifts his left hand up and draws water into his hand. He raises it to the crown of his head before applying the water to his skin causing it to glow as he begins to heal himself.

Sokka attempts to catch his breath after crash landing on Appa, luckily for him, Yue is still nestled beneath him gripping onto him for dear life. "Yue... we're safe." Sokka says, causing her to lift her head up before looking around. "Appa? You alright big guy?" he asks, causing the sky bison to groan. "Seems like he's ok." He says before brushing a hand through Yue's hair and kissing the top of her head. "Where did that tornado even come from?" He asks, looking up at the canopy above them. Yue remains quiet as she looks around the swamps hearing the animals around them make different calls and sounds. The noises causing Momo to bound around Appa's saddle nervously.

"What should we do?" she asks as Sokka lets go of her then begins taking stock of the bags that were tied down onto Appa's saddle. "We need to go find the others." she says as Sokka pulls a water skin out of their bags as well as the bag they keep their dried meat in.

"We definitely won't find them in the air, that's for sure." He says before reaching into the bag, producing some dried seal jerky. "But, it might be a good idea to at least look around from the tree tops. I saw them hit the forest pretty hard, hard enough to create a bunch of debris that sprayed above the tree line. If we can find where they landed maybe they haven't gotten very far." He says before handing her the food. "You should eat something, it's gonna be a long day."

"You're probably right." She says before taking the jerky from Sokka. "Hopefully they're alright. That landing sounds pretty rough." She says before taking a bite of the dried meat, before the two get onto the back of Appa's head. "Appa, yip yip." She says before opening her water skin.

Appa bounces a few times before flying upwards into the trees, the tight interlocking vines proving quite the obstacle as Appa tries to fly through them. Yue draws all the water out of her water skin before slicing through the vines with long fluid motions assisting Appa in getting out of the canopy. Cutting through the last of the vines, they manage to get into the air above the trees. Beneath them, a massive expanse of trees and forest spans for miles and miles in every direction. However, a massive banyan tree stands tall over the entire swamp, and finally Yue hears it. Whispers coming from the giant tree itself, she can't quite make out what they're saying but she feels like they need to get close to the tree. "You see anything below us?" Sokka asks as he looks around the right side of Appa. Yue looks around the swamps for a few moments trying to look for any damaged trees but she does see something odd. She sees a small clearing with what look like large huts handing down from the trees and some movement from above.

"Look!" she says pointing to the small clearing, "think that could be them?" She asks, causing Sokka to turn and look towards where she's pointing to. He spots the area she's referring to rather quickly.

"I don't think so but... it looks like a village." He says before they turn to look at each other. "Think they'd be willing to help us find them?" He asks, prompting her to shrug. "Hopefully they aren't firenation, but it might be our best shot at finding them." Sokka then flicks the reins before pulling them to the side bringing Appa down towards the clearing.

Appa makes three large circles overhead as he comes in for a landing on the forest floor. Come to find out that nestled in this little clearing is a village, secluded away from the rest of the world. The villagers dressed in little more than leaves and loin cloths living in large wooden and thatched huts at the intersection of two rivers. Seeing the flying bison come down for a landing, many of the villagers shy away in fear, while the hunters look to make a meal out of Appa. It's only when they spot Sokka and Yue on the head of the flying bison does their demeanor change, now wondering what could've brought visitors like these to their little swamp. "Has anyone seen an old man with a beard, a man with a scar, a boy with tattoos and a girl in blue clothes and brown hair?" Sokka calls out, turning his attention to a few of the villagers standing nearby.

"We got some old folk that look like the guy yer talkin' bout. But I aint seen the other ones." A skinny man with a leaf hat says as he strolls up to them. "You seen any of 'em' like that tho?"

"Nope, y'all get lost around these parts?" the shorter chubbier man asks as Sokka hops off the side of Appa and to the ground.

"We got sucked into a tornado and separated, we're looking for my sister, my friend, the avatar and his uncle. They were with us before that tornado blew through here." Sokka explains causing the others to look at one another.

"Ain't never heard of no avatar before, what is that anyways?" Tho asks as he strokes his chin.

"He's a bender who can bend all four elements of bending. Not just water." Yue responds before she pulls up some water from the river behind her to demonstrate.

"Hey, yous a waterbender too? That means we kin! Ma' names Due by the way." The skinnier man says as the others relax slightly now that their visitors are like them. However Yue is a bit apprehensive about that thought.

"Do you think you can help us find them?" Sokka asks, Tho scratches his chin for a moment before looking up at the sky. He turns and gives Due a look and the other man shakes his head.

"It's too late in the day, the sun's settin' soon. Stick round here for the night, and we'll track them in the morning. It'll be our best chance to spot them if we have more daylight." Tho suggests, Yue gives Sokka a concerned look for a moment wondering what they should do.

"Fine. But we need to go at dawn, hopefully one of them isn't hurt." Sokka says before turning to help Yue off the back of Appa, "My name's Sokka, I'm from the southern watertribe. This is my wife Yue, she's from the northern watertribe."

"They got swamps up there too?" Due asks, causing husband and wife to give each other a raised eyebrow.

"No. No, it's all ice and snow." Sokka says before Yue freezes the water she's bending to show it off.

"Oh, wes do that from time to time but I can't imagine livin' on all that cold the whole time." Due says, "C'mon then, lemme show yall a place to sleep. What's the big guy eat?"

"Plants, if you have any fruits or grass or anything like that he'll be fine. The small one eats bugs." Yue responds as Momo pops out of her shirt, his big ears flicking up and framing her face.

"Ain't seen anything like that before, what is that thing Tho?" Due asks, pointing to Momo.

"I think that's a leemu, seen one at one of em travelin' circuses once."

"He's a flying lemur."

"Close enough."

Iroh stacks a few sticks together that Katara had pulled all the water out of, her removing the liquid dried the branches and vines enough for them to easily catch fire. He's rather impressed with her quick thinking, granted it should have been obvious to him that plants have water in them considering he used to tend to a bonsai tree in his quarters on Zuko's old ship. After he lights the fire, he sets up a small rack over the flames and in the smoke before putting the legs of a large bullfrog that Katara had caught over the flames to cook. "Are you sure you can't eat any meat Aang? We don't have our supplies and I don't want you to go hungry." She says as she walks over and rests a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It goes against the monks' teachings," he responds, but the growling in his stomach has become audible, and Katara can only look at him sadly when she hears this.

"I'll see if I can find anything nearby, I'm not the best with plants but there should be something around here. Do any of you have anything else?" Iroh says as he stands from Zuko's side seeing that his nephew is already asleep but he does notice that he has a couple of pouches on his belt. He crouches down and grabs three of the bags. "Has he ever mentioned what's in these?" Iroh asks, feeling one that feels like it's full of water. "This one is full of liquid."

"Liquid? That doesn't look like his water skin, the one he has has firenation markings on it that he's drawn on it." Aang responds as he walks over from the edge of their small camp.

"Can I see it?" Katara asks, causing Iroh to pass her the small pouch of water. She unties the top of it, the bag being careful not to spill any of the contents. "It looks like it's just water." She says before pulling a small amount of the water from the bag. She goes to try to bend the water but a hand grabs her wrist. She turns and sees Zuko looking at her through his scarred eye.

"D-don't..." He says, his voice straining from the pain in his head. "It's from the spirit oasis." Katara's eyes widen in shock as she registers his words. "I'm sorry... But I had a feeling that I'd need it."

"What about these other ones?" Iroh asks, as he opens up the other pouches, in the first one he finds coins from the firenation, earth kingdom and watertribe. However in the last one he finds dried fruits and some nuts.

"You c-can give that to Aang." Zuko says, causing Iroh to hand the airbender the bag. Katara gets him to lay back down before resealing the bag with the water from the spirit oasis. She hands him the small pouch before uncorking her water skin and coating her hands in the water.

"Just get some rest Zuko, we have a long day tomorrow." Katara says as she begins healing the wound on his head again. The warm, calming sensation from her bending quickly lulling him back to sleep.