PREDATORS: THE AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER VERSION!
Part 3
The journey back down into the depths of the jungle was quiet. A thick aura of uneasiness had permeated through the ranks of the traveling, eight individuals, after they realized that they were stranded on a foreign planet and the silence had served to encapsulate the perturbed mood amongst them. But as each person struggled, in his or her own way, to cope with the anxiety and perplexity, stemming from the recent, disturbing revelation, one question was abstractly shared in the hearts of all eight people.
"So…what do we do now?" Phil finally broke the silence while halting in his tracks.
The gravity of the simple statement had enough power to stop the rest of the advance, as well; a testament to the similar sentiments of the Dai Li agent's peers. Aang, still at helm of the march, turned his back around to show Phil, and everyone else, a composed face, "Simple. We focus all our energies, now, on finding a way off this place." He replied straightforwardly.
"And just how do we that? Didn't you see the sky back up there? We're on another planet for crying out loud; we can't just find a way out of here!" Jet tensely cried.
"Yes, we can Jet. Look, something brought us here and that same something can take us back. We just need to find it…wherever it may be." The airbender retorted.
"Oh, that sounds real encouraging. Searching for a 'something' in a jungle filled with a lot of nothing!" The freedom fighter fired back. As he did this, June, who had been standing behind Jet, sighed, "You want to calm down a little kid? If that vein in your neck gets any bigger, it's going to pop; all over me, particularly. I already have enough things in my hair, from walking around this giant sweatshop-of-nature and I don't need human blood to add to the mix."
Jet quickly turned around to face the bounty hunter, "Hey, you don't tell me what to do! I'll express how I feel, whenever I feel, okay!" He yelled, rudely, in June's face. The huntress stared back at Jet, eye-to-eye, with an unmoved expression, "Oh really?" She asked calmly. Just as Jet opened his mouth to issue a response, he felt the stiff force of an uppercut suddenly erupt at his chin, fiercely knocking both sets of his teeth together and sending his mental faculties tumbling backwards. To the amazement of the spectators around the abrupt scene, the freedom fighter's body flew nearly as high as June had extended her entire right arm and traveled even further, landing at the tip of Aang's feet despite the young airbender being more than five feet away, from Jet's original position, and with both Iroh and Piandao trailing behind him.
"Express that." June muttered as she lowered her arm and pitilessly looked down at Jet, who held his sore chin with both of his hands, in pain, while lying backwards and squirming on the ground.
"June! That was totally unnecessary!" Aang yelled as he quickly knelt down to tend to the injured Jet. Iroh and Hama, the only two, other than Aang, to show visible concern, also followed in the Avatar's suit, and approached Jet to give help. But before any of their hands could even reach Jet's body the freedom fighter briskly sat himself up in an attempt to salvage his hurt pride, "Get away from me, I'm okay!" He yelled to Aang, and the others around him, before raising his body back onto his feet with slight difficulty. Standing erect, Jet glowered at an otherwise unsympathetic June and gnashed his teeth, "Alright, let's go!" He snarled, reaching for his hook swords.
Both Piandao and Iroh, in their close proximity, managed to read Jet's body language, in time, to restrain the arms of the angry teen from behind; much to his frustration, "Hey, get your dirty Fire Nation hands off me! I said get off me!" He yelled repeatedly.
"Calm down son. You mustn't repay violence with more violence!" Iroh grunted as he held back one side of Jet's writhing body.
"Easy for you to say, you weren't the one that just got hit!" Jet retorted.
Azula, watching the chaotic scene, with great interest, from the back of the advance, caught her breath after giving off a delighted giggle, "Oh, there's so something majestic about physical violence. It always seems to brighten my day!" She spoke blissfully. Phil, on the other hand, while standing next to the princess, donned a more serious countenance as he cracked his knuckles through the hard granite of his rock gloves, creating a distinct 'crunching' noise that differed from the normal 'pop', "Looks like I might have to step in and settle this. A little 'bump' to the head with these babies, on my hand, and the kid will forget all about this. That should calm him down." The Dai Li agent uttered before walking away from Azula and towards Jet.
"Ouu…" The Fire Nation princess cooed with anticipation as she watched Phil move, "…more brutality!"
Aang found himself powerless as he tried to lend a consoling voice amongst the ruckus of others that surrounded the restrained yet furious freedom fighter, whose own loud voice was at the focal point of the discord. But just as the Avatar began to vainly plead with Jet, again, and Phil came, unexpectedly, into the disorderly area, a strangely faint, yet distinct, rumbling noise made itself audible amongst the flurry of human voices. Gradually, the voices quieted down, at the strange occurrence, and heads turned, naturally, in the direction from which the sound came.
Narrowing his eyes, Aang began to make out a vague series of broad, moving objects, coming in his and the rest of the group's direction, from the far distance beyond the blanket of random, deciduous trees and shrub ahead of them. With their attention drawn away, both Iroh and Piandao, unintentionally, released their hold on Jet, who, despite being free, once again, also had his curiosity aroused by the mysterious clamor.
A bad feeling began to stir in the pit of Aang's gut as the noise steadily began to amplify and the frame of the moving objects developed, a little more clearly, into a pack of fleet-footed, quadrupedal creatures; marking their decreasing distance. Gripping his staff-glider, Aang slowly positioned himself into a defensive stance, "Guys…" He spoke, apprehensively, to the rest of the company around him. Understanding the tone in the Avatar's voice, the collection of warriors and benders, around him, also prepared themselves for what looked to be an oncoming engagement. Aang could feel his heartbeat begin to rise as the stampeding sounds loudly drew nearer and echoed a pretention of aggression from their raucous rhythms.
Finally, the mysterious creatures entered into the group's full range of vision and, to their surprise and disgust, revealed themselves to be a feral horde of unfamiliar, grotesque beasts with long, multiple horns projecting from their large, narrow heads and down their spinal columns. They possessed thick, leathery, gray skins, bare of any trace of hair, and had massive yet lean, burly bodies that resembled some abomination of a fusion between a lion, tiger, and wolf. Despite their bulk, however, the creatures displayed themselves to be as agile as they were swift; maneuvering, effortlessly, through the countless assortment of trees, in their path, as they dashed toward their targets at a lightning-quick pace; uttering strange, hostile growls, in between. Without a moment's delay, the benders of the group quickly used their powers to attack the otherworldly creatures while they were still at a safe distance.
Aang swung his staff repeatedly to generate a series of air blasts against the creatures, while Phil summoned blocks of earth from around him and shot the projectiles at the oncoming beasts. Iroh and Azula, relentlessly, sent forth a barrage of blue and red colored fireballs, while Hama harnessed water, from the plant life around her, to add a sequence of water whips to the collective onslaught. But even as the torrent of elemental attacks assaulted the pack of creatures, the beasts were nimble or resilient enough to either dodge or withstand the hits. As a result, they continued their wild dash towards their targets.
"Don't stop no matter what!" Aang yelled; sweat running down his brow as he persistently generated more air blasts.
"Nothing's working! They're way too fast and powerful!" Phil shouted back.
Piandao unsheathed his sword, "We have no other choice! We must prepare for close combat!" He yelled.
"Against those things? No way, I'm out of here!" Jet exclaimed as he frantically turned back to run away.
"I'm sorry Aang, but he's right! We need to run!" Phil screamed, giving the Avatar, alongside him, a quick glance before taking flight as well. Aang paused from his assault momentarily to turn his head toward his retreating companions, "No! Phil, Jet wait!" He cried out.
"AANG, LOOK OUT!" Iroh bellowed to the distracted airbender.
"Huh!" Aang muttered as he quickly whipped his head back towards the direction of the oncoming creatures. One creature had already broken through the defense and was caught, by the surprised eyes of the Avatar, flying in midair, as it attempted a pounce aimed towards him. In a speedy reaction, Aang barely managed to dodge the beast's attack with a quick, acrobatic tumble, to the side, that left the creature landing on grassy dirt. However, the sprightly movements of the creature's dexterous, muscular body allowed it to quickly rebound from its failed assault and spring towards Aang, once again; much to the airbender's surprise.
Upon witnessing the first creature break through the defense, followed by the others of its pack, a fearful Hama was the next one to depart from the group body, screaming dreadfully as she ran away, blindly, into the jungle behind her. Unfortunately, one of the alien beasts caught sight of her fleeing and engaged her body in hot pursuit. Iroh, however, managed to notice this, "Hama!" He yelled, before rushing off to aid his fellow elder.
At Iroh's unexpected departure, a surprised Azula was then left to face off against two of the savage beasts, by herself, "Thanks for putting family before friends, uncle!" She cried, in a mixture of anger and sarcastic wit, while vigilantly eyeing the movements of the two beasts before her. Piandao baited and strafed the attacks of the beast that targeted him, with his sword, while Aang performed similar actions against his own untamed enemy, "I-I don't want to hurt you…" He stammered, as he and the beast were locked in a slow, circular stand-down, "…even though you're so, so ugly." He continued, grimacing his face as he observed the features of the repugnant creature. The beast itself, snarled, and stared back at the Avatar, fiercely, through the tiny, black pupils of its similarly small, beady, yellow eyes. A nervous Aang could tell, from the creature's low body movement, that it was about to attack again. It was at that very moment that Aang then came to the realization that if he was going to live to see another day, he would have to go against his pacifist principles and kill the creature before him.
Taking a deep gulp, Aang conjured up bravery and prepared himself. The beast, like he predicted, sprang at him suddenly and Aang, once again, managed to use the passive movements, of his airbending discipline, to swiftly evade its attack with a graceful spin. However, just as the beast grazed past him, in flight, Aang prepared a quick counterattack at the end of his full 360 motion. With a strong, vertical thrust of his staff-glider, downwards, Aang generated an air blade, from its momentum, which struck the thick neck of the creature; lobbing off its head, in one motion, and sending its decapitated body crashing, clumsily, to the ground.
Jet, meanwhile, was panting hard as he ran away, intensely, from the site of battle. As the sounds of voices, both monster and human, quieted down behind him, and his gasps became synonymous with the resonance of tall, breaking blades of grass, between his rushing footsteps, Jet began to feel at ease. But before the freedom fighter could slow his pace for a rest, the dark silhouette of a large, heavy figure tackled him from the corner of his eyes. Landing roughly on his back, Jet was then pinned down by the weight of one of the hideously daunting creatures that he had ran from; much to his shock. Viciously growling, as it attempted to lock its sharp, jagged teeth on Jet's face, the monster was desperately resisted by the freedom fighter, who, held off the jaws of the beast, with his hands, by grabbing and pushing off of two, of the many horns, around its face.
"AGGH! HELP! HELP!" Jet screamed loudly as the beast writhed its head violently to free itself of Jet's grip, while also making sporadic, but unsuccessful, attempts to sink its teeth into his flesh. Jet grunted as his muscles began to tense from bearing the force of the beast's powerful struggle and he could hear the beast's claws wildly scratch and pick up the dirt around both sides of his head. Fortunately for Jet, while the creature possessed an impressive build, it also had the disadvantage of having short arms; a stroke of luck that unintentionally helped the freedom fighter keep his face from being clawed as he threw off the balance of the assailing beast.
As both man and monster struggled on the grass of the jungle floor, Jet managed to feel the body of one of his dropped hook swords near the side of his fidgeting right thigh. Without another second's notice, Jet took advantage of the opportunity and quickly removed his right hand, from the creature's opposing horn, to grab the hook sword. He then stabbed the sharp end of its base, repeatedly, into the neck of the creature, "DIE! DIE! DIE!" He exclaimed, under the forceful grunts of his blows, while warm, red blood dripped from the creature's neck and onto his wielding fist. The creature roared in pain but was nonetheless weakened by the besieged freedom fighter's attacks. Amazed and frightened by the extreme resiliency of the creature, a tiring Jet, sapped of much of his energy by his sudden adrenaline rush, dropped his hook sword and returned to resisting the now incensed creature, with both of his hands, once again. He watched in horror, as his muscles began to finally give way, and the face of the monstrous creature began to progressively move closer toward his.
Unable to bear the fact of a soon-to-be violent death, Jet turned his face away and gave a final scream. But just as the teen thought all hope was lost, he heard the snapping sound of a whip followed by the surprised grunt of the creature on top of him. The next thing he knew, his body was suddenly freed from both the creature's weight and its deadly assault.
"Looking good there, boss!" June cried to Jet as she held off the monster, at the neck, with her long shirshu riding whip. The creature was forced to stand on its hind legs as June tugged her whip, from a distance, behind it, "Aren't you the cutest thing ever?" June scoffed, between grunts, as she progressively pulled the monster closer to her body with great effort. The creature roared again and shook its body wildly to resist June's will, but the huntress remained firm and managed to narrow the gap between both her and the creature to about four feet, "There we go…this should be close enough." She murmured. Rolling her wrists, June wrapped the partial ends of the whip, which she held, into her hands for a tighter grasp. She then gave a forceful jerk of her arms backwards and snapped the creature's neck, with a sickening crack, as a result.
The creature emitted a short groan and then slumped forward, limply. At this, June released her hold on her whip, allowing the dead creature to fully collapse on the ground before the still recovering Jet, "Whoa…" Jet muttered as he observed the lifeless body of his former attacker, "…y-you killed it!"
A weary June huffed as she stared down at the carcass of the foreign beast, "I got to hand it to these…'things'. They're as powerful and heavy as they come; almost pulled my arms from the sockets trying to reel it in."
Slowly picking himself up, to stand on his feet, Jet rubbed his sore arms, one after the other, while still staring at the dead creature. He then withdrew his gaze from the creature to June, "You saved my life…I owe you an apology." He spoke penitently. June quieted her panting as she gradually locked her eyes with Jet's, "Don't go getting too sentimental on me yet, kid. Let's just hope the others didn't end up like you almost did." She replied dryly.
Anxiously, Hama ran up to the tree, in her path, and wrapped her arms, as far as she could, around its broad trunk. Gripping its bark with her wrinkly fingers and long fingernails, Hama then proceeded to climb up the tree with haste. Reaching the first high branch she saw, Hama grasped it, dearly, before pulling her weight to perch atop of it. Panting hard from the intensity of her rapid activity, she then turned her sights to the ground, of the direction, from which she had come. As Hama had fearfully anticipated, the creature that she was running from emerged from behind a bush; along the same trail from which she had just come. Jerking its head to the right and left, the creature scanned for its prey, in the surrounding area, before its' acute tracking senses drew its attention to the particular tree branch, above, where Hama had made her last refuge.
"Oh no…oh no…" Hama nervously muttered as the creature, eyes locked on her position, slowly sauntered to the base of her tree. But just before it could grasp its claws onto the rough, dark-colored bark, intending to scale up the tree, a fireball landed a concussive blow on the creature's hide from behind. The creature, in alarm, then turned its body around and saw a stern-looking Iroh standing in the midst of the same bushes from which both it and Hama had traversed earlier; all while holding a clenched fist, emanating with thin palls of smoke, from his extended arm.
Giving a hostile growl, the creature then rerouted its unhurried advance towards Iroh. Watching the creature approach, Iroh then shot another fireball which hit the creature directly in the face but failed to inflict any damage. Again, Iroh released another fireball, this time hitting the creature on the shoulder, but he still received the same result. Meanwhile, the unscathed creature steadily narrowed the short distance, between both it and Iroh, as if it nothing had ever happened.
"Persistent now, aren't we?" Iroh murmured, with a hint of frustration.
The creature then gave a shrill roar and hurled itself at Iroh. The general counteracted with a low tumble, underneath the flying body of the creature, which served to switch the sides of the two opponents. Quickly picking himself up, from the verdant floor, Iroh then backed away, closer toward the base of Hama's tree, to create space between him and the creature. The creature, however, snarled with a growing sense of aggravation, as it turned to face its target, once again.
Iroh then positioned himself in a defensive stance, "Don't worry Hama; I think I have a way to finally kill this monster!" He yelled, over his shoulder, while keeping his sights on the approaching creature ahead.
"Really!" Hama cried, a sense of hope in her voice, "How?" She then inquired; looking down at Iroh and then at the creature creeping towards him.
"By using 'cold' fire this time." He responded back; before beginning a series of rhythmic, circular arm movements, shortly after his statement. The creature, however, ended its short, casual saunter and broke out into full sprint towards Iroh. Letting out a deep breath, Iroh prepared to strike, "I only have one chance at this…" He muttered, under his breath.
With only a short span of earth between them, the creature's breakneck speed had brought it to a dangerous nearness to Iroh within seconds when the general, suddenly, struck out his left arm and released a luminescent, azure-colored, bolt of lightning from his two extended fingers. He had judged the distance between him and the creature to be too little and his attack too swift for the creature to be able to dodge. But when the creature adroitly strafed its body to the right, at the last minute, successfully evading the bolt's path, the general was caught off-guard and left defenseless against the creature in its continuing momentum. Iroh gasped as the creature then lunged at him, claws first and Hama, watching the horrible scene play out below her, screamed against the projected outcome at the top of her lungs, "NO!"
The general, himself, shut his eyes tight and hoped for a quick, painless death. What he received, however, was a strong gust of wind that blew from his right side. Taken aback by the uncanny event, Iroh then opened his eyes toward the route where the peculiar gust had came and saw Aang approaching him with his staff-glider in hand and aimed in the general's direction. A baffled Iroh then looked in front of him and saw the raw, bisected carcass of the once attacking creature crumpled on the ground.
"Iroh, are you and Hama okay?" The Avatar asked as he stood next to the general.
Iroh responded by turning an incredulous gaze to Aang, "Did…you do that?" He pointed at the dead, mutilated creature.
Aang lowered his eyes with a sense of guilt, "It's one of the few airbending attacks used for offense. Only to be used in times of emergency."
Sensing Aang's disturbed emotion, Iroh placed his hand on Aang's shoulder, "You used it appropriately too. Thank you Aang." The general spoke with a warm smile. The gesture made Aang felt more at ease and he smiled back.
"Oh, Avatar Aang, thank you for saving our lives!" Hama hollered as she made her way down the tree to embrace the young airbender with a tight, bear hug.
"It's…no…problem." Aang grunted before Hama released him.
"What about the others? Are they still alive?" Hama then asked.
Aang opened his mouth to reply, but a different voice came out than his own, "We were asking the same question!" June spoke as she and Jet, trailing behind her, abruptly came onto the scene from somewhere in the open jungle. Noticing the conspicuous, bloody carcass of the creature in front of Aang, Iroh, and Hama, June raised an impressed eyebrow, "Whoa…I see you three really did a number on this one."
"Actually, it was Aang who saved us." Hama replied.
June then turned her sights on Aang and nodded, approvingly, "Never knew you had it in you, kid. Do a little more that and maybe you just might be able to end the Fire Nation's war…that's if we get out of here, of course." She spoke.
Aang sighed, "Look can we stop talking about this? I'm really not the 'killing' type, I just did what needed to be done. Besides, we got more important matters to attend to. Piandao and Azula were still fighting off some of these monsters when I last left them. We need to go and help them out!"
With a shrill squeal, the creature made its final sound as Piandao struck his sword, deeply, into its chest; pushing down on the hilt, with all his weight, for his blade to penetrate further in the creature's tough flesh. Jerking around its body, violently, the creature's movements slowly died down to stillness and the master swordsman was left a victor. Sweaty, tired, and elated for his gauntlet to finally be over, Piandao took a sigh of relief. It was only moments ago that he had made the creature lose its balance and fall on its back, the result of a successful sword slash on its presumably sensitive snout, and he now contemplated on the event as he removed his blade from the creature's thick flesh, "I'm getting too old for this." He grumbled.
Not too far away from Piandao, a defiant Azula was still holding her own, in a struggle for survival, against two creatures. "HA!" Azula screamed as she cracked a lightning bolt, at one creature, from the fingers of her right hand. It dodged it, leaving its partner to attack the princess from the opposing angle; presuming her off-guard. The creature hurled itself at Azula, but the princess reacted by using her left hand to send off another deadly bolt of electricity, this time aimed for her new assailant. The unsuspecting creature was thusly hit, point black, and charred, instantly, by the powerful electrical current, while its body was still above ground.
The creature gracelessly fell and its momentum skidded its smoking body to base of Azula's feet. With her eyes still fixed on the remaining creature, the princess grinned insidiously, "After a while, you guys get pretty predictable…" She spoke to the unintelligible, skulking creature, "…which is where having the ability to emit lightning, from both of your hands, comes in handy."
"Azula!" Aang's voice yelled from behind the princess. Knowing better, Azula didn't take her eyes off the crouching, lethal beast, in front of her, to respond to the call of her name. Instead, she waited for the moving footsteps, behind her, to reach her presence.
"Good. Looks like you survived." Aang spoke as he stood, defensively, beside Azula; against the last creature.
"Of course I'm alive. I only die on my terms." Azula replied proudly.
The creature, uttering a low growl, looked around, in hostility, at the sudden collection of humans before it; understanding, somehow, in its primitive mind, that it was outnumbered, but still eager to fight, nonetheless. Its expression took a sudden change, though, as the abrupt sound of a loud, high-pitched, mysterious whistle permeated the air and alerted the creature. It then quickly turned around and ran away, in some unknown direction, into the dark depths of the jungle. The stunned group of humans were then left to ponder the strange turn-of-events amongst themselves.
"Wait…what just happened? What was up the sound?" A confused Jet asked.
Still looking out, confusedly, into the direction which the creature fled, Aang gave his response, " It looks like something…'called' it."
A haggard Piandao sheathed his sword in its hilt, "Good riddance, if you ask me. Anybody want to take a crack at explaining just what that and all those other things, like it, were?"
"Not your normal, everyday animals obviously…" June spoke as she crossed her arms, "…but then again, maybe they kind of are."
Aang turned his attention to the young huntress, "What are you saying June?"
The bounty hunter held a grim expression as she looked at the Avatar, "Those creatures…the way they moved and attacked us? The way that last one reacted to that strange whistle? Those are the same kind of mannerisms that hunting animals display when they are sent to flush out the prey for the hunters. I would know since we bounty hunters do similar things to humans, but on a less extreme level. I'm absolutely certain, though, that something sent those things for us…on purpose."
"B-But why?" A concerned Hama stuttered.
June gave a gentle sigh through her nostrils, "Like I said, to 'flush' us out. Just like hunting animals, those creatures did exactly what, whoever sent them, had wanted them to do: split us apart so we could be watched; tested even, to see how each of us ticks under pressure. When the controller of those beasts had seen enough, it called its 'pet' back, which, explains the loud whistle we heard." She replied.
"Wait, so…we're being hunted?" Jet inquired.
Turning her gaze onto the freedom fighter, June responded, "Either that, or the locals around here have a quite a way of greeting visitors."
"I don't think we're the first ones either…to be hunted, I mean." Piandao uttered, drawing the attention of everyone around, "I know I should have said this earlier, but…when I was wandering through the jungle, before I met any of you, I stumbled upon a strange sight: the corpse of a water tribesman."
"A water tribesman?" Iroh reiterated in surprise.
Piandao nodded, "A water tribesman; a warrior, from the looks of his armor, and possibly from the southern tribe. Judging by the decomposition of his body, he had to have been here days, even weeks, before any of us were! He also had a large, cavernous trauma to the chest; the mark of a blast of some sort. It looked, at first, as if it could've been the work of a firebender, but the wound was too deep and wide, in its radius, to be the result of a fireball. The man's mysterious fate has been in the back of my mind, since then, but now that June has brought this new issue to the forefront, I think I understand, now, what killed him. Something has been capturing humans and hunting them out here, even before we arrived."
Piandao's words gave Aang the last pieces of the puzzle that had been eluding him, "It all makes sense now!" He cried out suddenly, "This mysterious world, our random gathering, the creatures, the dead water tribesman that Piandao just mentioned. We weren't just captured, we we're chosen and brought here for the same purpose. This planet is some kind of game preserve…and we're the game."
Aang's disturbing words created another bout of eerie silence amongst the group as they contemplated its meaning. Azula, however, broke it as she opened her mouth, "Look, we can't just stand here all day. What we need to do is follow the tracks of that creature that ran away. It'll lead us right to its master, who, according to the Avatar's conclusion, must be the one responsible for bringing all of us here."
"No way…" June spoke, "…it'll be a trap. Whatever controlled those beasts knows what it's doing. That creature is bait and we'd be following a dangerous lure if we tagged it. Trust me; I know what I'm talking about."
"No, you don't." Azula objected snidely, "How else do you expect us to get off this world? Or even survive for that matter? There's something out there poaching us, for its own sick purposes, and we need to find out what it is so we can strike it before it can strike us again. Then we can draw whatever information or resources we need from it to return back to the four nations." She retorted.
June snorted, "You're a fool if you think we'd be able to take down so easily, head on, whatever had the capability to control those beasts; which, we barely survived from, might I add."
The insult twitched Azula's nerve and she powered an aura of blue flames in both her hands, "NO! You're the fool for thinking you could speak to a Fire Nation princess so blatantly and not get incinerated for it!" She yelled, intending to scorch the bounty hunter.
A fearless June positioned herself in a fighting stance but the Avatar quickly came between the two, "STOP IT YOU TWO! We can't be getting hunted, out here, only to start killing ourselves! We all need each other to get off this world, remember!" He cried. At his plea, a reluctant June relaxed her body and then gazed at Azula, along with everyone else. The annoyed princess glowered at the bounty hunter, for a few extra seconds, and then stuck up her nose before extinguishing the flames in her hand, "Low-life peasant!" She spat as she folded her arms.
"What!" June cried, taking a step toward Azula. Aang held her back by placing his hand, gently, on her abdomen, "Calm down, June. It's okay." He spoke calmly to the irritated bounty hunter. June looked down at him and then back at Azula before giving a shallow sigh, "Whatever." She mumbled as she backed away. Letting out a deep heave of air, Aang then took advantage of the return to normalcy, "Okay everybody...here is how things are going to happen. We're going to follow Azula's idea of following the creature's tracks back to where it came from. Despite what June said, we have to take our chances. This may be our only way of getting off this world and back home."
Iroh nodded, "I'm in favor of it."
"As am I." Piandao added.
"Me too." Jet agreed.
"So am I." Hama also spoke.
Aang turned his attention to the quiet June, who stood near him, with her hands of her hips, "June?" He spoke inquiringly. The bounty hunter, however, turned her face away, "Whatever." She muttered, at which the young airbender gave a satisfied nod of approval.
"Wait a minute…" Jet spoke up, an awkward tone of perplexity in his voice, "…there's only seven of us."
The epiphany-of-a-statement struck each person as they turned their attention to what was amiss in their number.
"Hey…where's Phil?" Iroh asked.
…TO BE CONTINUED…
** To everybody whose been waiting for an update to this story, I deeply apologize for the long wait and thank you for your patience. I'd like to say I'd be updating every week, but I have quite the personal schedule. I will try to finish the story soon and all reviews have and will always be greatly appreciated.
-ND