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Me: ok u guys ready

All: yea

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Book 1: water

Chapter 17: The Northern Air temple

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Aang: oh yay! 😃

Suki: oh cool I get to see what the northern air temple looks like.

Toph: yea cool

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[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(Opening shot of the roof of a building, screen pans up to reveal a small group of people seated on benches. It is night. Aang, Katara and Sokka sit on the first bench to the left. Some children kneel on the ground in front of the benches. They are all listening to a man sitting in front of the fire that burns in the center of the gathering.)

Storyteller (from o.c. at first as the camera pans up): So travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look, it might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man! A member of a secret group of air walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!

(Cut to Aang, smiling.)

Aang: Aren't airbender stories the best?

Katara: Was it realistic? Was that how it was back then?

Aang: I laugh at gravity all the time. Haha! Gravity.

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Aang: yea haha gravity.😆

Suki: really?

Aang: yea I mean technically I can fly.

Sokka: true.

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(Cut to a wider shot of the three on the bench. Suddenly a pair of hands holding an open hat appear in front of Sokka. The hands shake the hat and the jungle of coins is heard.)

Storyteller: Jingle, jingle!

(Sokka searches his coast, but when he opens his hands there is only some lint and a bug. The bugs legs wiggle a few times, accompanied by a sound effect. Cut to wide shot of the three seated on the log, the storyteller in front of them.)

Sokka: Sorry!

Storyteller: Aww. Cheapskates!

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Zuko: u guys have no money at all

Toph: wow shocking.

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(Aang runs over to the storyteller who is facing another audience member as he seeks more donations.)

Aang: Hey thanks for the story!

Storyteller (thrusting hat at Aang without looking at him): Tell it to the cap, boy!

(A copper piece falls on the ground, which Momo picks up and deposits in the cap. The storyteller pats Momo.)

Storyteller: Aw, much obliged little bat thing!

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Toph: ha if only he knew.

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Aang (Momo climbing back up to his shoulder): It means a lot to hear airbender stories. It must have been hundred years ago your great grandpa met them.

Storyteller: What are you prattling about child? Great grand-pappy saw the air walkers last week!

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Suki: huh?

Toph and Zuko: I'm sorry what?!

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(View slides over to a very old man who waves at Aang.)

Great Grand-Pappy: Heya!

(Cut to a daytime sky shot of clouds rushing by. The camera pans up to reveal Appa's underside, the sun above him as he flies. Cut to a side view as Appa flies just above puffy white clouds, snow capped mountains in the distance.)

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Aang: Hey, we're almost at the Northern Air Temple! This is where they had the championships for sky bison polo.

Katara (sitting down next to Sokka): Do you think we'll really find airbenders?

Sokka (whittling): You want me to be like you, or totally honest?

Katara (folding her arms): Are you saying I'm a liar?

Sokka: I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing basically.

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Katara: 🙄🙄🙄😑😑😑

Suki: that's not the same thing.

Sokka: whatever u say.

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(Cut to Aang, looking ahead and smiling.)

Aang: Hey guys, look at this!

(Cut to shot just near Appa, who flies them all away from the camera towards what is obviously the Northern Air Temple. It sits atop a sheer peak similar to its sister temple down south. Unlike that temple, however, there are people or things flying around this one. Cut to a closer shot of the temple. Smoke rises in lazy pillars from a couple places among the spires. Around the temple fly many gliders. Cut back to Aang, Katara in the background. Aang's smile turns to a slight frown.)

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Suki: why are u frowning? But the northern air temple kinda looks like the southern one.

Aang: yea they kinda do but still looks different.

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Katara: Huh! They really are airbenders!

Aang (leaning back and folding his arms unhappily): No, they're not.

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Suki: really? Sad.

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Sokka (appearing in the far background with Momo and pointing ahead): What do you mean they're not? Those guys are flying!

Aang (from o.c. as the camera returns to a shot of the temple and its gliders): Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move. They're not airbending. Those people have no spirit.

(As he finishes, Katara and Sokka almost get their heads taken off by a glider as it passes over their heads. The glider pilot laughs. Cut to a close up of the glider. A teenage boy wearing amber goggles and seated in a glider built out of a wheelchair laughs and wheels his craft around for another pass at Appa. Cut back to the kids.)

Katara (pointing to the glider): I don't know, Aang. That kid seems pretty spirited!

(The wheelchair glider makes another pass. Aang looks at him and gets a competitive look on his face. He jumps into the air, unfolds his glider and takes off. The other gliders now fly in formation around Appa. Katara falls backward, crashing into Sokka.)

Sokka: We better find some solid ground before it finds us!

(Cut to Appa landing gracefully on one of the temple's outer terraces. Then cut back to the boy glider, still laughing. He soars upward, Aang coming into the frame beneath him, an unhappy expression on his face. Aang flies upward as well and comes up just behind the his target. Shift to an overhead shot of some Air Temple residents watching the game of "tag" going on in the sky from the terrace where Appa landed.)

Audience Member: Go Teo! Show that bald kid how it's done!

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Toph: hahah lol

Zuko: wow they don't know do they.

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(Back in the sky, Aang continues the pursuit. Teo hits his brakes, loops backwards and ends us behind Aang. They twirl around each other in a controlled dive. Cut to a side view where it is clear that the gliders are neck and neck with each other.)

Teo: Hey there! You're pretty good.

Aang: Yeh, I know. But I can do more than fancy gliding!

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Toph: hahaha he's being a show off.

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(Aang breaks his descent, turns and shoots straight upward. He comes back to the one of temple's towers, let's go of his glider, and starts running along the side of the tower. Then he produces an air scooter, jumps on it and rides it along the outside wall of the tower, his glider still running along side of him. He lets the air scooter die and then jumps back on his glider and soars back into the sky. Cut back to Teo, who is impressed.)

Teo: Wow! I don't think I can do that! But here's a good one...

(He releases a cord on his glider and a cylinder on the back of his glider begins to leave a trail of thick grey smoke. Teo manipulates his glider through loops and arcs, leaving the grey trail behind him. Cut to a view from the audience down on the Air Temple terrace. Teo has made a picture of Aang's face, arrow and all, with a sour expression. The crowd laughs. Cut back to Aang on his glider, Teo coming up beside him.)

Teo: What do you think?

Aang (clearly not enthused): It's great.

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All: hahahahaha

Aang chuckled.

Toph: wow that's was really accurate. Hahahaha

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(Aang lands next to Katara and Sokka, folding his glider. Teo lands his glider right behind, skidding only a bit before he applies his hand break and come to a stop. A bunch of kids come up and detach the glider from his wheelchair. He then wheels over to Aang and his friends.)

Teo: Hey! You're a REAL airbender! You must be the Avatar! That's amazing! I, I, I've heard stories about you.

Aang (looking embarrassed but happy): Thanks.

Sokka: Wow! This glider chair is incredible!

(Two girls bring the glider setup back for Sokka to inspect.)

Teo: If you think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my Dad designed.

(He begins to wheel away, Sokka and the others following. Cut to an overhead shot of the three moving with their new friend through the huge main gate of the temple. Cut to a view from inside the entrance as the walk in. When they reach the main chamber, it is quite unlike that seen in "The Southern Air Temple." This room is dominated by a jumble of steam-powered machinery with many wheels, gears and pipes. It is not pretty. A beautiful statue of an airbender monk (who looks somewhat like Gyatso) is seen in a recessed portico in the wall, but it too seems dirty and befouled as does the rest of the room. Shafts of sunlight do filter in, but the steam and dust make it look shadowy.)

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Suki: wow this looks really different

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Sokka (running forward): Wow!

Teo (proudly): Yeh, my Dad is the mastermind behind this whole place! Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift when we're gliding.

(As he speaks a woman walks over to cage which she gets into. She pulls a rope and steam power lifts the cage up to a higher level where she exits.)

Aang: This place is unbelievable.

Teo: Yeh, it's great isn't it?

Aang: No, just unbelievable.

(Aang's walks out of the frame, clearly saddened by what he has seen.)

Katara: Aang used to come here a long time ago. I think he's a little shocked it's so... different.

Sokka: So better!

(Cut to Katara walking over to Aang in another part of the room. The Avatar is looking at a mural. Cut to the mural. It was surely once breathtakingly beautiful. Now, it is gritty and dirty. Worse, many of the figures and shapes in the mural have been destroyed since many pipes now and enter and exit the wall here.)

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Suki: it's cool but it kinda ruined the beauty of the place.

Aang: kinda

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Aang (sadly from o.c. as the camera pans the mural): This is supposed to be the history of my people.

(Katara walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder, but he walks away over to a huge statue that once had a fountain attached to it. Now the fountain basin is full of green industrial looking effluence that bubbles and spirits. The statue then emits a cloud of black smoke from its mouth, scaring Aang. Katara comes up behind him.)

Aang (as the smoke erupts from the statue): Ugh!

Katara: I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same.

(Fade to some time later where we see a long shot of the kids and Teo walking across a narrow, suspended pathway from the main temple to a satellite temple building. Cut the four now inside the satellite building. They are in the main courtyard, which looks untouched. Airbender statues still reside here.)

Aang: It's nice to see even one part of the temple that isn't ruined.

(Cut to Aang and Katara staring up at a huge recessed statue of an airbender monk. Suddenly, from o.c.)

Voice: Look out!

(The statue disintegrates as a wrecking ball smashes through it. Aang and Katara fall backward with flying debris and dust. Everyone coughs. As the dust settles, many figures can be seen through the hole the wrecking ball just created. One of them walks forward, a middle aged man with a bald head and weird, patches of pointy hair on either side of his head. His right eye has a red monocle. He wears a green tunic mostly covered by the white smock or apron of an artisan.)

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Suki: well poor That's unfortunate

Toph: yea.

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The Mechanist: What the doodle! Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse!

Aang (assuming an airbending stance): Do you know what you did? You just destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!

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Toph: ooh he mad.

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The Mechanist (waving a hand in front of nose suggestively): Well, people around here are starting to stink.

Aang (pointing at the Mechanist): This whole place stinks!

(Aang strikes the ground with his staff, sending a gale back through the hole in the wall. Cut to a long shot of the outside of the satellite temple building. The wrecking ball and its entire rig are blown off the building's rock foundation and falls into the crevices below. Cut to a shot from underneath the falling rig, where the rig seems to fall right into the camera.)

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Suki: woah not expecting that.

Aang: I'm not proud of that anger but I was frustrated.

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(When the show returns, a brief opening shot of the temple's exterior, festooned with smoke, is replaced by a return to Aang's showdown with the Mechanist.)

Aang: This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like.

The Mechanist: The monks? But you're 12!

Teo: Dad, he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago.

Aang (advancing on the Mechanist with each question): What are you doing? Who said you could be here?

The Mechanist (turning away): Hmmm... doing here... A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood (he gestures for effect to show the size of the flood, then stands behind his son's wheelchair). My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother. (Sniffling to hold back tears) I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home! Then I came across these fan like contraptions!

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Suki: this is pretty sad story.

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(He puts his hands out and extends his arms as if they were wings and makes flying motions across the courtyard for emphasis. He stops in front of Aang, who still looks angry.)

Aang: Our gliders.

The Mechanist: Yes, little light flying machines. They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak! We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?

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Suki: yea I guess.

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(Cut back to Aang, still unhappy. His friends are teary eyed behind him at the Mechanist's story.)

Aang: Nature knows where to stop.

The Mechanist (looking through the hole in the wall he just created): I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us. (He looks down in some sadness, then lifts his head back up to look at something o.c.) Look at the time!

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Zuko: wait how could he tell fro those candles

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(Cut to a view of a three candles burning brightly on a stone pedestal. Each of the three candles is separated neatly into different sections. Next to the pedestal a large mallet rests, head down. Then cut back to the Mechanist turning to speak to a scribe behind him.)

The Mechanist: Come the pulley system must be oiled before dark.

Sokka (approaching the candles): Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing? The notches all look the same.

The Mechanist: The candle will tell us. Watch.

(The candle flame snaps four times in a row.)

Sokka: You put spark powder in the candle!

The Mechanist: Four flashes, so it's exactly four hours past midday, or, as I call it, four o'candle!

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Sokka laughs.

Zuko: oh that's pretty smart.

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(Sokka laughs. Cut to a frontal shot of the Mechanist, pleased that Sokka is interested.)

The Mechanist: If you like that, wait till you see my finger safe knife sharpener! (He holds up his left hand. Three of the fingers are made of wood. He detaches them and tosses them to Sokka.) Only took me three tries to get it right!

Sokka (after catching the fingers): Aaahhh!

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They all laugh.

Zuko: ouch.

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The Mechanist: Follow me!

(Sokka and the others run after The Mechanist, leaving Katara, Aang and Teo alone.)

Teo: Hey Aang, I want to show you something.

(Fade to a long, overhead shot of the three walking deep in the bowels of the Air Temple.)

Aang: I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same.

Teo (stopping and scooping up a little black and white striped hermit crab): I don't know about that. The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendents of the ones that lived here a long time ago.

Katara: You're right. They're kind of keepers of the temples origins.

(Teo gave the crab to Katara, who now passes it to Aang. He smiles.)

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Suki:aw those things are so cute.

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Teo (from o.c.): Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all.

(Fade to the group walking down a long corridor of the Temple. Huge Air Nomad swirls are built into mosaics in the floor. Camera pans down to where they all stand in front of a door. Then cut to a view from behind the three showing a clear shot of the door. It is huge, made of wood, and it is dominated in the center by a woodcut comprised of three wooden air symbols protruding from its surface and which are arranged in a triangular pattern. The symbols are attached to tubes that end in two horns near the bottom of the woodcut.)

Katara: Hey! It's just like the one in the other Air Temple.

Teo: Only an airbender can open it – so inside it's completely untouched, just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it was like in there.

Katara: Aang?

Aang (lowering his head): I'm sorry, this is the last part of temple that the same as it was. I want it to stay that way.

Teo: I completely understand. I just wanted you to know it was here.

Aang: Thanks.

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Suki: aw how sweet of him

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(Aang turns and starts walking back down the hall the way they had come. Cut to a brief exterior shot of temple, followed by a shot of Sokka and the Mechanist walking down a dark, narrow stone staircase. They hold lanterns that glow light blue, but don't put out much light.)

Sokka: These lanterns are terrible! I can't see.

(He stops and opens one. Inside the jar is packed with fireflies. One escapes.)