AVATAR PLUS TEN!
Chapter Three: Lies and Deception
"Hello! Grandpa! Ben!" Gwen called out as she continued walking through the forest she found herself in when she woke up.
"Can anyone hear me?" Gwen shouted as she pushed yet another low-hanging branch out of her way. "This is so not how I wanted to spend my summer vacation!" Just then, Gwen felt the earth beneath her feet trembling just enough for her to feel it throughout her body.
"Oh, no! An earthquake!" Gwen exclaimed as she ducked underneath some bushes for cover. After a while, a distant rumbling sound soon reached Gwen's ears.
"Wait a minute…that can't be an earthquake…" Gwen trailed off softly as she crawled out from underneath the bushes. "It sounds more like a truck going by or something. Maybe there's a road nearby I can follow to the next town!"
Eager to find out if her theory's right, Gwen ran off to track down the source of the strange rumbling noise. As the noise grew louder, Gwen quickened her pace so she could catch up to the source.
"Huh?" Gwen gasped when she finally reached the edge of the forest, which continued into a stretch of desert. "What is that thing?" she asked herself when she noticed a black tube-shaped form heading towards her, which was the source of the rumbling sound and the ground shaking. As the black tube came closer, Gwen could make out more details of the strange-looking device.
"Is that a…a giant drill? What's a giant drill doing in the middle of the desert?" Gwen wondered aloud as she ducked behind a tree. "There's nothing around for miles!"
As the drill came to a grinding halt, Gwen noticed three strange creatures coming from the opposite direction. As they came closer, Gwen noticed that the creatures were large dark green lizards that were at least fifteen feet long, with bright yellow eyes, crests on their heads and backs with a light green striped pattern, and four squatty clawed legs. Although she couldn't make out any features, Gwen saw that each lizard was occupied by a female rider.
"Looks like someone was expecting them," Gwen commented as a large panel dropped down from the side of the drill and a man with gray hair tied up in a topknot and a pointed gray beard emerged from the opening…
"Princess Azula, we are most honored to have you and your two young colleagues join us," War Minister Ching openly admitted as Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai dismounted from their mongoose dragons.
"Thank you, War Minister Ching, for having us," Azula replied.
"It is my pleasure, your highness," War Minister Ching replied as he bowed respectively to the Fire Nation princess. Once he stood back up, War Minister Ching clapped his hands twice. Almost immediately, three soldiers disembarked from the drill and joined them.
"Bring the steeds to the stable below deck," War Minister Ching ordered the three soldiers.
"Yes, sir!" the soldiers replied simultaneously as they each took one of the mongoose dragon's reins and led them to the drill's ramp.
"In a few short days, we'll be making history when this mechanical drill penetrates the walls of Ba Sing Se," War Minister Ching boasted as he led the girls aboard the drill.
Before Mai reached the opening, she heard a twig snap. She quickly snapped her head towards the forest, where she spotted a girl peeking out from behind a tree.
"Mai, what's taking you so long?" Ty Lee complained teasingly as she looked back at Mai, along with Azula.
"Trouble," Mai simply stated before she ran down the ramp. Ty Lee and Azula exchanged a quick glance before chasing after their friend, who was making a beeline for the forest…
"Okay! Something tells me I wasn't supposed to see that!" Gwen gasped out loud when she saw one of the girls running straight towards her, with the two other girls not far behind.
Not knowing what these girls were capable of, Gwen decided to make a run for it rather than stay and fight. Unfortunately for her, the one girl quickly caught up to Gwen, who had long black hair tied back into a bun with two long locks framing her face, straight bangs, and an emotionless expression on her face.
"Ahh!" Gwen gasped as she stopped short when a metal dagger became embedded in a tree trunk, just inches away from hitting her. She quickly did a backwards flip in the air to avoid another dagger thrown at her by the black-haired girl.
"Hey! Watch where you're throwing those things!" Gwen complained after landing back on her feet.
"You should be more concerned about yourself!" the girl stated sternly as she raised both hands and fired arrows from mechanical weapon holders strapped to her wrists.
"Ahh!" Gwen screamed as she did a flying somersault, barely avoiding most of the arrows. Unfortunately, one arrow pierced right through Gwen's left sleeve as she got back up, pinning her to a tall tree stump. A slight smirk appeared on the black-haired girl's face as she fired around round of arrows at Gwen.
"Okay, you asked for it!" Gwen remarked under her breath as she took out her spell book with her free hand and quickly flipped through it with her thumb until she found what she was looking for.
"Sinnyu…Invisibis!"
In response to the spell she read, Gwen's hands glowed with a sky blue light as she brought up a large slab of rock from the ground, shielding her from the incoming arrows.
"I was right about her!" the girl gasped softly as the now glowing slab of rock was flung in her direction. She quickly laid flat on the ground, barely avoiding the rock slab by mere inches.
"Mai, you okay?" another girl's voice asked aloud. Gwen looked up and noticed two more girls running down to join the girl named Mai.
The girl who called Mai by name had long sandy brown hair pulled back into a long braided ponytail on top of her head, swooping bangs, big brown eyes, and was dressed in pink clothes and slippers. The other girl had black hair pulled up into a bun with a red ornate hairpiece shaped like a flame tucked into the bun, amber eyes, and was dressed in black clothes and armor.
"Barely," Mai grumbled under her breath as she got back up to her feet.
"Why did you attack me, anyway? I didn't do anything!" Gwen demanded as she managed to remove the arrow from the tree trunk.
"Then why were you spying on us?" Mai accused Gwen.
"Spying? I was doing no such thing!" Gwen firmly denied.
"I find it hard to believe that such a young girl would be working as a spy at all," the black-haired girl commented.
"She has to be a spy, Azula," Mai pointed out. "She was hiding in the bushes, watching us. Besides, she used earthbending on me. You both saw her do it."
"Yeah, but…I never saw such a pretty blue light come from an earthbender before," the lighter-haired girl quipped. "And the rock she threw at you had that pretty blue light, too."
"That could have been a new trick they picked up, Ty Lee," Mai stated. "Just like how our military is coming up with new weapons to assist us in the war."
"Earthbending? War?" Gwen repeated. "What are you three talking about?" Upon saying that, the three girls looked at Gwen with surprised looks on all of their faces.
"You mean you don't know about the war?" Ty Lee asked curiously, clearly puzzled over why Gwen was unaware of the ongoing war.
"No…" Gwen trailed off. "I'm not exactly from around here. Let's just leave it at that."
"Hmm…" Azula murmured under her breath, arching an eyebrow slightly as a plan formulated in her head as to how she could take advantage of this strange girl's naivety.
"I say we take her prisoner. She's clearly trying to confuse us," Mai pointed out as she stepped towards Gwen.
"Stay back, Mai. Let me handle this," Azula announced, much to Mai's surprise. Mai reluctantly stepped back as Azula approached Gwen.
"First of all…I must apologize for my friend's behavior," Azula started in a sincere and friendly tone. "As she mentioned before, she suspected you of being a spy for the Earth Kingdom."
"It's okay. I mean, everyone makes mistakes, right?" Gwen replied.
"Exactly. So, what's your name?" Azula asked curiously.
"Gwen Tennyson," Gwen introduced herself.
"It's a pleasure, Gwen. I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and these are my two closest friends, Ty Lee and Mai," Azula introduced herself and her two friends.
"Wow! You're really a princess?" Gwen asked in an awestruck tone, which Azula nodded yes to. "This is amazing! I never met a princess before, Azula…I mean, Princess Azula."
"It's quite all right," Azula replied.
"So…what's this war all about?" Gwen prodded.
"You see, our world is divided into four nations based on the elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air," Azula started to explain. "Each nation has what they call benders, who have the ability to bend their nation's element."
"Oh, so that's why Mai thought I was an earthbender!" Gwen released. "Because of that spell I used, she automatically assumed I was with the Earth Kingdom."
"You're very astute for such a young girl, Gwen," Azula commented. "Currently, our nations have been at war for nearly a hundred years now."
"A hundred years?" Gwen repeated.
"Mmm-hmm," Azula confirmed with a nod as she bowed her head slightly, as though she were attempting to stop herself from crying. "It's been terrible. The dreaded Earth Kingdom started this horrible war, which has been continued from generation to generation throughout their royal family. Their greedy Earth King will never end this until he rules over all the nations, no matter the cost!"
"Wow, Azula's a good actress!" Ty Lee whispered softly to Mai so Gwen couldn't overhear them. "Maybe she should have joined me in the circus!"
"However, we have devised a plan that cannot fail," Azula continued explaining to Gwen. "You see, not far from here is the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se. Our armies have attempted to invade Ba Sing Se many times before, but unfortunately, they couldn't penetrate the city's thick stone walls."
"Oh, I see where you're going with this, Princess Azula," Gwen realized as she looked over at the drill. "You're gonna use that giant drill to get into Ba Sing Se and capture the Earth King, right?"
"That's exactly the plan, Gwen," Azula confirmed. "Once we capture the Earth King and have him surrender, we can finally bring this hundred-year-old war to an end. You know, we could certainly use someone with your unique talents to aid us in our mission. Will you help us, Gwen?"
"I don't know…" Gwen trailed off hesitantly. "I have to go find my grandpa and cousin. I got separated from them."
"There is the possibility that the Earth Kingdom soldiers have taken them as prisoners," Azula suggested.
"Really? Are you sure?" Gwen asked worriedly.
"If your grandfather and cousin were found by Earth Kingdom soldiers, and they have no proof they're from the Earth Kingdom, the earthbenders won't hesitate to take them to Ba Sing Se as prisoners of war," Azula explained. "And it is the closest Earth Kingdom city around. So, what do you say, Gwen? Will you join us?"
"Well…I suppose it wouldn't hurt to come with you," Gwen eventually agreed. "After all, it would be helping your cause to end this war peacefully without any more bloodshed."
"Exactly," Azula stated with a pleased smile on her face. "Come with us, Gwen. We should get going now."
"Okay, Princess Azula," Gwen agreed as she followed Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee to the drill in the distance.
"Are you sure about this, Azula?" Mai whispered as she walked alongside Azula, while Gwen and Ty Lee trailed behind. "What if she finds out that almost everything you told her was a lie?"
"Relax, Mai. If it comes down to that, I'll take care of it," Azula reassured Mai.
"Umm…why are you staring at me like that?" Gwen questioned Ty Lee, who was just staring at her.
"I like the color of your hair, Gwen. It's so pretty!" Ty Lee commented with a wide grin.
"Thanks…Ty Lee, right?" Gwen asked, which Ty Lee confirmed with a quick nod.
"I saw those moves you did when Mai attacked you," Ty Lee admitted. "You're really good, but can you do this?" Gwen was a bit surprised when Ty Lee suddenly performed a walking handstand on the hot desert sand, with her legs perfectly straight and rigid.
"Yeah, I can do that," Gwen replied as she pulled off a walking handstand as well.
"Were you in a circus at all?" Ty Lee asked curiously as she and Gwen both returned back to their feet.
"No, afraid not. I just took gymnastics class," Gwen revealed. "Why, were you in a circus, Ty Lee?"
"Yes, I was for a few years. Actually, I first joined the circus when I was around your age, Gwen," Ty Lee admitted as the four girls reached the drill…
