TOPH POV
"Hey princess," I heard the first human voice I'd heard in days.
"What?" I snapped. What could this guy possibly want with me?
"Hey, no need to get mad," he said as I heard the door close behind him. This guy was brave, letting himself get locked in a cell with me. I smirked, feeling along the wall to get a feel for where I was.
As soon as my hand hit the corner, I lunged toward where his voice had been.
"Tsk tsk," his voice came from a few feet away, "I know your weakness. You can't see a thing in here," he sounded infuriatingly happy about that little fact.
"I can never see, stupid," I spat. Unfortunately, I could tell he already knew about how I could see with earthbending… most of the time, that is.
"Look, I'm not here to fight you," he said, his face now only a few inches from mine. He had surprisingly good breath for a mercenary.
"They why'd you kidnap me?" I growled, even though I was happy to finally be getting the information I'd been wanting for days.
"There's a large sum of money headed our way, compliments of the Hong family," I could hear the smile on his voice as he pulled his face away from mine and started pacing again. Immediately, it started to come together, but before I could ask another question he interrupted my thoughts.
"But first," he said, still pacing around the big wooden box, "I've heard you can bend metal," he finished it more as a statement then a question.
"Yea, so?" I said roughly, "You want me to be part of your little circus act or something?" He laughed.
"No, I want you to teach one of my associates how to do it," he said, now sounding like he meant business.
"'Fraid I can't. Sorry bud," I said, sticking my nose in the air, but I was interrupted by the sound of crackling lightning.
"Listen, sweetheart," he sounded eerily happy, "I just want you to know that Mr. Hong never specified if he wanted you alive, so I get my money either way."
Those last few words sent a shiver up my spine. It finally set in that I had no idea what I was dealing with. With a reluctant sigh, I hung my head.
"No promises, it's very difficult," I did my best to sound confident, but at this point I wasn't.
"Good girl," he said, before leaving the room. It wasn't much longer before he arrived.
ZUKO POV
Aang was flying Appa, while I laid in the middle of the saddle staring at the sky.
"So what's the plan?" Katara asked.
"I say we bust through the window and WHAPAA!" he swung his boomerang dramatically, "Aang bending-blasts them."
"I'd like to avoid a fight, if at all possible," Aang piped in from Appa's head.
"I'm okay with a fight," Suki grinned.
"We need to think reasonably, guys," Katara sighed, "Zuko, do you know what these people are like?"
I thought for a moment, "Well Mr. Hong is a horrible, greedy politician, his wife is an evil plotter, and their son Nethaniel is, well, two years old."
"And what, exactly, do they stand to gain from her disappearance?" Katara asked, deep in thought.
I sighed, rolling over to face her.
"Money, power, you know, the usual," I sighed before rolling back.
"So we're sure it was them that sent the pirates?" Katara asked, giving me a very serious look.
"Positive," I paused, "either them or her parents, wither way these people can lead us to where she is."
"How to get them to hand her over once they have her?" Suki asked, twirling a knife between her fingers.
I shook my head, "I don't know. They'll probably want something in return, if they're willing to negotiate at all. Otherwise we'll have to use force before they have a chance to…" I trailed off, unable to say it. The whole group went silent, knowing we couldn't let that happen.
"Well whatever the plan is," Aang said, "it'll be another day before we get there, so you'll all want to get some rest."
Katara crawled out onto Appa's head and took the reigns from him.
"You need your rest more than I do, but don't worry, we'll take turns," she said, letting the Avatar slip back into the saddle and doze off.
I watched the sun as it sank, reminding me that every day she wasn't in my arms was another day she wasn't safe…
Slowly, but surely, I fell into another nightmare.
