Two Science Bending
The Huntress moves leisurely along on the strange lizard creature she sits astride, following a trail.
It is not a trail of sign. No, there is no physical evidence, but the Huntress knows she is on the right path.
Her trail is one of intuition. The Huntress knows her prey was following the other prey. The Huntress knows the other prey would look for a safe hole. The Huntress knows of only four places in the world that could be, and of them all, only one was close.
The Huntress only wonders at the logistical problem of reaching an Air Temple.
"Well the design seems to be fit enough." Teo looked over Sokka's rough drawing. "It is little more than an over-sized rocket."
"But can you make a bomb small enough?" Sokka wondered. "I mean, we can't be lugging forty of fifty of these things around if they're too large." He froze, and Teo waited, already familiar enough with the Water tribesman to know he was thinking. "Actually, we need something more like a mine, that will blow up when it hits something."
"Like the Fire Nation used on the submarines." Teo nodded. He looked at the time-piece. "You know we've been working for three hours?"
"Okay, Mustache." Toph said, falling into an Earthbending stance. "Do your worst."
Haru rubbed his mustache, slightly offended. "Um…I won't hurt you, will I?" He saw Zuko and Katara flinch out of the corner of his eye.
Toph's sightless eyes narrowed, and her face reddened with anger. "You better worry about me not hurting you!" She yelled, stomping her foot.
Haru barely blocked the wave of broken earth, and looked at Toph with a new respect. "Okay, then, little lady badger-mole." He teased. "Let's spar."
He slapped a head-sized lump of rock toward Toph, who move easily aside and stepped forward, small pillars rising from the earth under Haru's feet. He danced away, barely able to avoid the attacks, and then resumed his own offense, lifting a large lump of earth to the air. He smiled, striking the boulder, and it smashed into hundreds of tiny chunks, each surging toward Toph.
She grinned, and raised a wall of earth. Haru heard something crunching under him, and he cursed as he fell down into the earth up to his neck.
"Okay, I take back the badger-mole comment." He said.
Toph walked toward him, and poked him in the forehead. "That's right, Mustache. I'm the only one who gets to make nicknames around here."
As she walked off, Haru called out. "Are you going to let me go?"
Toph stopped, and brought her foot up, then down. Haru went flying through the air, crashing near Zuko and Katara.
Haru sat up, and watched Toph walk off. "Wow, I think I'm in love."
He blushed when he heard the couple next to him laughing, and he realized he had said it out loud.
"I hope I'm doing the right thing." Aang said, looking up at the moon. He heard rock crunch behind him, and turned to see Chit Sang carrying a cup of tea.
"You are awfully young to be brooding." The firebender said, offering the tea.
Aang took the proffered cup. "But I'm the Avatar, and I have a lot to think about."
"That may be." Chit Sang sat down. "You know, I used to brood a lot myself, right after I was imprisoned."
"What were you in prison for?" Aang asked, curious.
Chit Sang looked off into the distance, and it was a while before he spoke. "When I was a younger man, I was the servant of a powerful and well known royal. HE was a good man, kind to all his servants, and fair to all, no matter their station in life.
I had gone out to get my master's grocery delivery, because the wagon was running late, and when I returned, I found my master and all my fellow servants dead, and the master's house almost completely burnt down around them. I was blamed for the murder, and locked away in the boiling rock." Chit Sang scoffed. "I'm not a good enough bender to have done that."
"So, you're basically a student too." Aang smiled. "Why don't you train with me in the morning? It would really help to have someone to practice new techniques with, and you would learn too."
Chit Sang thought that over, and finally nodded. "I don't see why not. It would be an honor, Avatar."
"They're going to blow themselves up." The Duke said. Everyone was sitting outside, watching as Sokka and Teo set up what looked like a four foot rocket inside a hollow tube.
"My son's a excellent creative mind." Hakoda replied, scolding. "It isn't likely they'll blow themselves up."
"What?' Toph blurted, turning her head to Haru. "You get fidgety every single time we get close to each other. What is your problem?"
"Nothing." Haru replied quickly, scooting away from Toph. He'd forgotten that she could feel vibrations.
Sokka lifted the hatch on the launch tube. "This is a thirty second wick, right?" He asked again.
"Right.' Teo assured the water tribesman. "Light it, and let's get back with the others. I don't want to be standing here if we miscalculated."
Sokka tapped some spark-rocks together, and grinned tightly when the wick began to crack as it burned. "Let's go!"
He and Teo took off, reaching the others just as soon as the rocket launched. It roared through the air, and arced straight toward the boulder Toph had produced for the target.
The shockwaves from the explosion washed over the group mere seconds later, and when the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of the boulder except gravel.
Sokka, Hakoda, Zuko, Teo, The Duke, and Haru spoke at the same time, their voices filled with an excited awe. "Cool."
Long Nu looked up. Something was off, but she could not figure out what it could be.
Deftly, she climbed a tree, taking only second to find purchase at the top. Off in the far distance, she could see a large cloud of smoke, and saw tiny shapes of birds flying away.
The assassin grinned coldly. She know knew for sure where the prey was.