The mountains had been quiet for hours.

Too quiet.

Team Avatar had been climbing since sunrise, following a narrow trail that seemed to disappear every few minutes beneath loose rocks and patches of snow. Even Appa was beginning to look exhausted.

Sokka dropped his pack onto the ground.

"That's it. We're lost."

"We're not lost," Katara said.

Aang looked around.

"...We might be a little lost."

Toph suddenly stopped.

Her bare feet shifted against the stone.

"Wait."

Everyone froze.

Toph tilted her head, sensing the ground beneath them.

"Someone's nearby."

Sokka glanced around. "Where?"

"Above us."

Aang looked up.

Nothing.

Just a massive cliff face stretching hundreds of feet overhead.

Then—

CRACK.

A small rock bounced down the cliff.

Then another.

Katara stepped back.

"Did you hear that?"

Aang's eyes widened.

"Something's coming down."

A figure suddenly appeared near the top of the cliff.

A wild-looking teenager stood there, wearing a large gray-brown boar mask, shaggy fur hanging around their waist and loose dark trousers shifting in the mountain wind.

For several seconds, they simply stood there.

Then they started climbing down.

Not carefully.

Not using ropes.

They moved across the nearly vertical cliff like it was flat ground, gripping tiny cracks in the stone and jumping between ledges with frightening confidence.

Sokka's jaw dropped.

"There's no way."

Aang stared upward.

"Are they actually climbing that?!"

Toph smirked.

"Yep."

A few moments later, the stranger reached a ledge directly above the group.

They crouched there silently, boar mask staring down at them with its bright-blue eyes.

Sokka slowly raised a hand.

"Uh... hello?"

The stranger didn't answer.

Instead, they tilted their head.

Then looked at Appa.

Appa gave an excited grunt.

Aang blinked.

"Appa likes them."

"Appa likes everybody," Sokka muttered.

Toph shook her head.

"No. This one's different."

She stomped lightly.

The stranger's feet shifted against the stone.

Toph's expression changed.

"They're an earthbender."

Aang smiled.

"Really?"

Toph grinned wider.

"Yeah."

She could feel it now.

The stranger wasn't standing on the mountain.

They were practically part of it.

And judging by the vibrations running through the cliff...

They had been watching the Gaang for quite a while.