The men of the Northern Water Tribe were holding assembly, old and young...until Mai came.
"Aang...Piando...you talk idly, as in time of peace, whilst war is at hand." said Mai. "The nemy army, thick as sands of the sea, is even now crossing the plain to attack the city."
And they knew they had been whispered to by a goddess.
"We have many allies who have come within the walls of the Northern Water Tribe, speaking many tongues." said Piando. "Let each chief give orders to his own people, and lead them forth to battle!"
And soon, the Northern Water Tribe's gates were thrown open wide, and its host issued forth, footmen and air bisonmen, with the tumult of a mighty multitude.
The defenders and their allies advanced in clamour and shouting, like a flight of wild sooty copper fritillary that flutter overhead, while the attackers marched to meet them in silence, breathing courage, and minded to stand by one another. And all the while, Zuko sat brooding at his ships......and nursed his anger.
As when the south wind spreads a curtain of mist upon the mountain tops, bad for shepards but better than night for thieves, even so rose the dust from under their feet as the two armies made all speed over the plain. And when they had come nigh to one another, one warrior strode forward as champion on the defenders side.
"I, Sokka, challenge the bravest of the attackers to meet me, man to man, in deadly combat!" spoke the warrior.
Then one menacing man lept from a chariot.
"Glad are these eyes to catch sight of you, at last! Now I shall be revenged!" spoke the man.
"Zhao...?" asked Sokka in amazement.
With that Sokka retreated back to the warriors.
"Hah! Plunge back, coward into the enemy throng!" laughed Zhao.
Sokka continued to run until he was stopped by Aang.
"Evil hearted Sokka, dare you not face the man whose wife you stole?" asked Aang.
"Your rebuke is just, Aang. I will fight him for Yue and all her wealth." replied Sokka.
Aang then held his spear aloft.
"Defenders and Attackers, hear the words of Aang, brother of the one through whom this quarrel has come about! Let Sokka and Zhao fight in the midst of you." spoke Aang. "And let the victor bear home the woman and her treasure...but let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace!"
Zhao then held his spear up.
"Hear me as well, for I, Zhao, am the most aggrieved. Let him who shall die, die." spoke Zhao. "But let King Piando first come and swear to the covenant...for his sons are high handed and ill to trust!"
And both defenders and attackers were glad when they heard these words.
Meanwhile, those too old to fight sat or stood upon the ramparts above the gates......and watched as Yue approached.
"Small wonder defenders and attackers endure so much and so long for the sake of a woman so divenely lovely." said an old man.
"Let them take her and go. She breeds sorrow for us and our children!" said another.
But King Piando bade her draw nigh.
"Sit here, my child that you may see your former husband, kinmen, and friends. I lay blame on the gods, not you, for this terrible war." stated Piando.
"Strange...I see not my brothers Arnook and Hahn among the defenders." examined Yue.
"Perhaps they will not show themselves, for the disgrace I have brought upon them." suggested Piando.
She knew not that both these heroes were already lying under the earth in their own far land of Jang Hui. Then, Piando recieved word from heralds that he must go down and swear to a sacred covenant between the two warring sides......and Yue knew she had chosen death rather than come with the king's son.
When the Northern Water Tribe's ruler had sealed the covenant and departed......Jet and Aang cast lots from a bronze helmet...and the lot of Piando's son flew out.
"Sokka aims his spear first." announced Aang.
Then did Sokka and Zhao stride, fierce of aspect, into the open area between the two armies...and first the prince of the Northern Water Tribe hurled his far shadowing spear.
"Hah! My shield turns its point!" laughed Zhao. "Now, Lord Oyaji, grant vengeance on Sokka, who has wronged me, that, in ages to come, a man may drink from doing ill deeds in the house of his host!"
And with that, Zhao launched his spear at Sokka.
But the spear was lodged in the shield of Sokka.
"He swerved aside, and my spear has been hurled in vain!" exclaimed Zhao. "Then I'll subdue him under my sword hand."
Zhao drew his sword and lashed out at Sokka, only to be broken by his shield.
"Father Oyaji, of all the gods you are the most despiteful! My sword ha broken in my hand, and I have not killed him!" cursed Zhao.
Zhao then grabbed Sokka by the helmet.
"Then I will drag him back to the attacker's lines, by his own well-wrought helmet!" said Zhao.
With his own chin-strap choking Sokka, Zhao would have hauled him off to his own great glory......had not Kyoshi, Goddess of Love, been quick......to break the dragonhide.
"The helmet comes away in my hands!" exclaimed Zhao. He then threw it to his allies. "Here, comrades! Take the coward's headpiece." Zhao then pulled his spear out of Sokka's shield. "I'll run him through with my spear!"
But Oyaji's daughter snatched him up as a god can do......and conveyed him back to the Northern Water Tribe. Then went Kyoshi to Yue, taking the form of an old woman she had known while still in Jang Hui.
"Come, Sokka is in his chambers, radiant with beauty." said Kyoshi.
"Zhao has just vanquished him, goddess, and is to take my hateful self back with him." stated Yue. "I have griefs untold in my soul, and I will garnish his bed no longer. Go sit with Sokka yourself, and be goddess no longer, but tend only to him!"
"Bold hussy, do not provoke me, or I shall leave you to your fate, and I will hate you as much as I have loved you."
At this, Yue was frightened...and followed the goddess in silence. And she came to the bedchamber where Sokka waited.
"Would that you had fallen by the hand of that brave man who was my husband, you, who used to boast you were a better man than Zhao, by might of arm and with spear!" vexed Yue.
"Wife, do not vex me with your reproaches. This time with the help of Lily, Zhao vanquished me." stated Sokka. "Another time, I may be victor, for I, too, have gods that will stand by me. Come, let us lie down together and make friends. Never yet was I so enthralled by my desire for you as now."