A/N: I know there was a lot less humor last chapter, but every time I tried to crowbar some in, it felt super out of place and tonally dissonant. That right there is probably the biggest thing that separates average guys like me from the superheroes of comedy writing like Terry Pratchett or Jim Butcher; they can magically remove the tonal whiplash from scenes that rapidly seesaw back and forth between brutally violent and side splittingly hilarious. Seriously. Read Thud or Night Watch or any of The Dresden Files and you'll see what I mean. Anyway this chapter's tone should be more in line with the first one. Enjoy.


Chapter Three:

Oh Sister, Where Art Thou?

There had been a rather significant amount of debate as to where Sokka was going to be held. The scarred one; 'Prince Zuko' apparently, had suggested the brig, but his uncle had worried that the cells might be too small, and had recommended using an empty rhino pen in the beast hold. Zuko had felt this would not be secure enough. Sokka had managed to get his two coppers in and had stated in no uncertain terms how he felt about the idea of being kept in a pen full of livestock, and the likely consequences of doing so.

This had made Zuko suspicious, apparently deciding that this meant the Dragon wanted to be put in the brig, and would somehow use this highly advantageous position to sabotage the vessel, free the Avatar, and escape, or something. Sokka didn't want to delve to deep into the murky depths of the Prince's paranoid mind, lest he start jumping at every shadow as well. Eventually it was decided they would put him in the brig, and he was handed off to Uncle while Zuko went to go deal with an escape attempt by 'The Avatar', who had apparently been captured during the two hours since Sokka had surrendered.

By the time they arrived, Zuko and his marines were stuffing a heavily bound Aang into one of the other cells, with much grumbled cursing, nervous joking, and stone-faced glaring on the parts of the marines, Aang, and Zuko, respectively. Sokka wound up two cells down and across the hall from the hyperactive airbender, which as it turned out was not nearly far enough. Apparently, when unable to bounce off the walls, Aang would resort to talking constantly in order to vent his seemingly limitless energy. It took only a few minutes before the guards were all but screaming at him to shut up, which lasted about half an hour before they were too exhausted to keep yelling, and began attempting to ignore him. When he started singing, about an hour later horribly off key, and with an average of half the lyrics remembered, they simply resorted to covering their ears, humming loudly, and shooting pitying glances at Sokka, who had long ago learned to his horror that covering your ears (An occasional necessity when one is related to Katara) was on the depressingly long 'List of Common Activities That Require Prehensile Forelimbs and/or Opposable Thumbs'(LoCATRPFaoOT for short).

Eventually one of the guards, whom Sokka recognized as the young private he had attacked during his initial ambush, began surreptitiously sidling his way over to his cell. Sokka and the other guard both gave the man a look. Sheepishly, he went back to his post for several minutes before abandoning all pretensions of stealth, grabbing a stool, and planting it directly outside the bars of Sokka's cell. Sokka looked at him in confusion. He looked at Sokka nervously. The other guard looked at them both incredulously.

After several minutes of awkward silence(not counting Aang's singing), the private stuck his right arm through the bars, holding it out as if expecting to shake hands. Sokka's glare immediately went from one of warily amused confusion to irritated contempt(handshakes obviously being on the LoCATRPFaoOT). Embarrassed, the man withdrew his hand.

"Hi. I'm Private Kanzo." he said rapidly, eyes glued to the floor.

Sokka continued to stare at him, unimpressed.

"We're not supposed to talk to the prisoners private."

"Well if I have to spend the rest of shift doing nothing but listen to his singing I'll go insane."

"One-hundred bottles of baijiu on the wall! One-hundred bottles of baijiu! You take one down, you pass it around, ninety-nine bottles of baijiu on the wall!" Aang sang, beginning the fifth rendition of what was apparently one of his favorite songs(and one of the few that he remembered all of the lyrics to).

"Fair enough." the other guard conceded, gritting his teeth.

After several more moments of internal debate, Sokka extended a whisker. Kanzo reached out to meet it gingerly, as if expecting it to bite him.

"If you start singing too, I will barbecue you." Sokka snarled mentally.

Kanzo laughed nervously.

"I wasn't planning on it."


Appa flew low over the water, the not-quite-setting sun at his back as it skimmed the horizon. Katara had already noted that it had slid lower in the sky as they flew north, and was now closer to the horizon than it ever would have been at home this time of summer. Up ahead, they had finally spotted the smoke from their quarry, and were slowly gaining. She could now see the dark speck of metal cutting through the waves, weaving through the last few icebergs before it reached the open ocean.

Nervously, she checked over her gear for what must have been the hundredth time:

Boomerang, holstered on her back, she could reliably hit a stationary or slowly moving target, though she wasn't yet able to get it to come back, never mind strike multiple targets with it's ricochets as Sokka used to do.

Knife, sheathed on her left thigh, she had no experience with this weapon, but it was better than bare hands in close-quarters.

Waterskin, Belted to her left hip, she might be able to bowl a man over or freeze him in place, but in a real fight she was more confident with her last weapon;

Nuqaq, hanging from her right hip, next to it's quiver, and the half dozen short spears it contained. This was the weapon she was most familiar with, the tool whose use she had learned in those dark days immediately after her brother's kidnapping, when she had found herself filling in as the sole 'man of the tribe'. With this weapon she could strike a fleeing pika-squirrel at thirty paces, or kill a caribou-seal with a single well placed spear. And, if the stories she had overheard as a child were to be believed, at close range, it could punch through all but the thickest of Fire-Nation Armor. Against the lacquered-bamboo plate and leather-lamellar worn by most marines, they may as well be going into battle naked.

Swooping between a pair of icebergs, she guided Appa alongside the ship, feet almost skimming the water, the vessel's hull hopefully hiding them from anyone on deck. Just above, one of the ship's anchors hung from a thick chain, ready to drop at a moment's notice. The chain led through a dark opening to the vessel's interior, presumably to a winch or capstan of some description. Grabbing hold of the anchor, she clambered hand-over-hand up the thick chain as Appa peeled off toward the concealment of the nearby icebergs.

The opening itself proved more of an issue, as it was rather narrow, especially when the not-inconsiderable girth of the rode was taken into consideration. After a moment of consideration, Katara ended up dropping most of her equipment through the gap ahead of her, then spending several minutes squirming and squeezing her own way through.

The winch room was nearly pitch black, but Katara managed to gather up her gear and locate the door by feel, and after some trial-and-error, she managed figure out the turn-wheel and open it.

The hallway outside was dimly lit by the occasional red lantern, and echoed with distant footsteps and chatter over the groan of shifting metal. Creeping through the seemingly labyrinthian interior, Katara encountered the occasional guard on patrol, but they were infrequent an inattentive, easily avoided. However she quickly became lost among the many identical decks and passages. Several nerve-wracking hours passed as she wandered the ship, avoiding the more densely peopled regions as she searched. Eventually her ears caught a familiar voice;

"-Seventeen bottles of baijiu on the wall! Seventeen bottles of baijiu! You take one down, you pass it around, sixteen bottles of baijiu on the wall!"

Following the singing she located the brig a few minutes later. Peering inside, she spotted two guards, one leaning against the wall, a shortsword at his hip, the other apparently unarmed, most likely a firebender, seated on a stool near one of the cells. Her boomerang took the firebender in the head, and a wave of water smashed the swordsman into the wall before he could draw his blade or even cry out in surprise.

"-you take one down, you pass it around, three bottles of- Huh?"

"Shh! Keep singing for now!" she whispered harshly."

"Katara?"

"Shh!"

Searching the swordsman, she located a key ring and went about releasing her brother and Aang from their cells. Keeping watch as she began sawing at the many layers of rope around the young airbender, Sokka placed a whisker over her shoulder.

"Thanks. Chatting with that guy was slightly less annoying than listening to Aang sing, but I can't say I miss it. For a murderous Fire Navy marine, he was one of the least interesting people I've ever met."

"Glad I could help alleviate your boredom."

Once Aang was free, they crept swiftly through the ship making their way upward in the hopes of reaching the main deck. They had to restrain Aang from haring off after his staff, but otherwise, barring a few tense moments of hiding from passing guards and the occasional wrong turn, their escape was mostly uneventful; up until it wasn't.


Zuko was roused from his fitful doze by the alarm bell tolling a pattern every sailor dreaded.

Hostiles on board.

Leaping up, he threw on the nearest shirt, a light silk thing, far too thin for the weather outside but it'd have to do, and wrenched his door open as fast as he could. Dashing out into the hallway ready for battle, instead of a raiding party of Watertribe warriors he found only Uncle and a few disheveled sailors.

"Alright ladies!" Lieutenant Jee's confident voice cut through the murmurs of confusion and fear, "We've all drilled for this. Group up, spread out, search the ship, and figure out what the hell is going on. Let's move it people!"


The loud bell startled the already tense Sokka so badly he nearly slammed into the ceiling(Aang did hit the ceiling, though he managed to handspring off completely unharmed).

"Hurry!" Katara hissed.

No-one argued.

Dashing around a final corner, they shot out onto the deck- only to be confronted by Prince Ponytail and a veritable wall of marines.

"Going somewhere?"

Aang chuckled awkwardly.

"Actually we were just looking to get some fresh air, maybe take a quick swim?"

"Bit cold for that." the Prince deadpanned.

Katara replied with her boomerang, which Zuko swatted to the deck with the flat of his hand, before lashing out with a bolt of fire. The children scattered, and the marines charged. An airblast from Aang sent half of them sprawling and skidding, and in the chaos Sokka shot across the deck toward Zuko, ducking and weaving through his fireblasts. Vaulting over the fiery arc from the Prince's last kick, Sokka brought his own flames into play, and while Zuko deflected them relatively easily, it kept his hands occupied, forcing him to clumsily sidestep the Dragon's lunge. Narrowly managing to kick aside a swipe of Sokka's tail, Zuko was sent sprawling when the Dragon flared its wing into his chest. Rolling swiftly to his feet the Prince launched a two-handed wave of fire, forcing Sokka to dive aside and break off his follow-up charge.

Lunging at Zuko once more, Sokka was greeted with a flaming roundhouse to the snout as the Prince spun aside. Yelping and staggering back, the Dragon was forced to retreat further as Zuko pressed the attack with a relentless barrage of flame. Behind him, Sokka could see Aang and Katara struggling to fend off numerous foes as more marines and sailors poured onto the deck.

His distraction cost him however, as a firebolt from the Prince detonated underneath him, hurling him into the air and allowing Zuko to viciously kick him back to the deck. He landed hard on his left wing, letting out a bark of pain as he rolled upright.

Gonna feel that one tomorrow.

A low bellow announced Appa's entrance to the battle, only for the trio's hopes to be dashed as a volley of fire leapt from the deck, driving the bison back with a pained cry.

"Appa!"

Aang's moment of distraction proved fateful, as a bolt of flame slammed into his chest, blasting him over the rail and into the frigid antarctic waters.

"Aang!"

Katara raced to the edge of the deck before remembering the foes behind her, turning to find a dozen spear-points in her face.

Appa bellowed, attempting to charge the ship once more, and once again being driven bake by waves of flame.

Zuko advanced, fist cocked and blazing, backing Sokka up against the prow of the ship.

"Someone go fish the Avatar out; we can't have him freezing to death on us-"

Water erupted next to the ship, a towering waterspout shooting into the sky, Aang balancing at its summit, gleaming with baleful light.

All eyes were now turned to face the furious Avatar.

Water crashed down, sweeping over the deck, washing marines and sailors overboard, save for a lucky few who fetched up, battered and waterlogged, against the rails.

Setting down on the deck, the Avatar slumped as the light faded, just as he had emerging from the iceberg, leaving a barely conscious Aang to collapse into Katara's arms. Seeing his opening, Appa landed, lowing urgently. Not having any objections, the siblings rushed over, hoisting themselves and Aang into the saddle. Wincing from the strain on his battered wing, Sokka knew he would have some interesting bruises in the morning, and most likely wouldn't be able to fly on his own for a few days.

Never thought I'd say this, but thank La for Laws-of-Nature defying bovines.

And with a quick 'Yip-yip' from Katara they were off, climbing into the gathering night.


Miraculously, there had been no fatalities; quite a few concussions, broken bones, and bruised egos, and several dozen cases of hypothermia of varying severity, but no-one had died.

Yet.

That would almost certainly change when they next confronted the Avatar and his allies, Zuko thought darkly. And there would be a next time, he swore.

I know you're real now. I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth if I must, I will find you. I will defeat you. I will go home.


A/N: I feel like an idiot for not mentioning this last chapter, but a nuqaq is the Inuit version of an atlatl. For those who are not familiar, an atlatl is very simple device (usually a flat, grooved stick with a handle at one end and a notch or cup at the other) used to launch large darts or small spears with great force over long distances. Very powerful, and quite effective against armor, as many a Spanish Conquistador learned the hard way.