Chapter 2:
Fire Prince Zuko
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters involved except Guardian E. Earth
The group had moved on from the battlefield very quickly. After Toph had left Earth and Aang to discuss what had just happened a large group of Fire Nation tanks were approaching them. Earth apologized because apparently the rocks he'd thrown earlier and one of them smashed into a tank attracting the group that followed it. They traced the trajectory and found Aang and his group.
"Time to go!" Sokka shouted seeing the tanks moving toward them
Aang swept himself up onto Appa, Earth looked toward the tanks. "Go! I'll hold them off!" He shouted before running off
"Earth! No! You can't do it alone!" Katara shouted after him
"Hey Twinkle toes, where's Bulky running off to?" Toph asked approaching Appa
"Some Fire Nation soldiers found us. He's going to hold them off to let us escape." Sokka explained
"Really now?" Toph asked
"Yes, but there's no way he can hold them off on his own." Katara said worried
"Don't worry about him. He can handle himself." Toph said pushing her fists down creating two pillars that sent her flying up onto Appa's back.
"What do you mean? It's a squad of tanks!" Sokka shouted
Sounds of the battle reached the group and Aang whipped Appa's reins to get him into the air. The Bison took off toward the battlefield. They flew overhead and saw nothing but smoke as one of the tanks had flipped over and fired it's canister into the ground exploding and creating a large dust cloud that mixed with the smoke making it impossible to see the fighting.
Aang swung his staff through the cloud and dispersed it to show Earth twirl on the spot and slam his fist into a soldier's face before he slammed his foot down creating a pole that shot out of the ground sending a tank onto one set of treads before falling over.
"How's he doing that!" Sokka shouted
"He was holding back in the fight." Toph said suddenly
The three of them looked back at her and saw she was reclining against Appa's saddle.
"What do you mean he was holding back?" Aang asked
"Like I said, Bulky down there was holding back in our fight. I could tell because his body wasn't vibrating nearly as much as it should've been if he was actually fighting me." Toph said pointing down at Earth
The group looked back down at him again and saw him claw his hands through the air summoning a large stalactite that pierced through the bottom of the tank before picking it up into the air. He twirled and sent a wave of rocks flying at a nearby group of soldiers. He jumped lightly and slammed down creating a small earthquake that shook the whole of the remaining soldiers to their cores. Earth looked up at Appa before pushing off with his feet sending himself flying high into the sky where Sokka and Aang grabbed his forearms and pulled him up until he grabbed Appa's saddle and pulled himself up.
"What was that?" Sokka asked grinning as Earth released a pent up breath
He opened his eyes and looked at Sokka sternly "That's what happens when you anger a Guardian." Earth replied
"Well then, I'm glad you're on our side." Sokka said smiling
Earth nodded at this "That brings me to why I actually came to you today." Earth said
"What?" Aang asked
"There is going to be a war in three months time. The Guardians would normally handle this ourselves but there are going to be more enemies than we can handle. So we're going around and recruiting people from different worlds, a few I can name so far as Fire, Death, and Gatescholar who the rest of us still out in the field have received word that they've already completed their objective and certified their world's assistance." Earth explained
"Well, what kind of war is it?" Aang asked
"One that's on a scale that none of you have seen before, and one that you should never see again." Earth said solemnly
Aang nodded his understanding "Alright. We'll help." He said
"A-Aang!" Katara shouted surprised
"What?" He asked
"We don't even know who we'll be fighting." Sokka shouted
"That won't be too hard to see." Earth replied
"He's not lying" Toph added
"Like I said, when you need us we'll help." Aang said again
"Thank you Aang." Earth said nodding
Aang nodded back "I do have one question." He said
"What's that?" Earth asked
"Why three months time?" Aang asked
"Good question. We, the Guardians that is, decided we'd do something about it on this date. We'd tried to do something already but had failed. So we gave ourselves time to go around and collect a force to assist us and take down the enemy so we could stop their reign of terror" Earth explained
"We'll have Fire Lord Ozai defeated by then. We'll have to." Aang said seriously
"Well, part of the contract is that if the world the Guardian enters is in trouble we're to assist however possible. So count me in for helping defeat the Fire Lord." Earth stated
"Thank you."
"Sure, it's what I'm here for I guess."
While the group flew off toward the horizon another figure approached the battlefield and the scattered tanks and soldiers. He leant down and on his face was a large scar over his left eye. He pushed his fingers into the dirt before lifting them and rubbing them together.
"Earth Bender…" He said to himself. He stood up and looked around before continuing on his path toward the Earth-Nation capital. He knew he was to meet his uncle on the way and from there they would start over as a simple uncle-nephew pair that would allow them to escape the wrath of the Fire Lord and to escape their own former lives.
"Don't worry Uncle… I'm on my way." Zuko told himself as he continued toward the capital: Ba-sing-sae
Meanwhile Iroh was sitting at a refugee station and sneezed horribly. "I think my nephew is talking about me." He said to the person sitting next to him. A young man who was chewing a shaft of grain
"Wonder who he's talking to." The stranger replied