Well, when I mean it's going to be dark, I mean it in an emotional sense. In a world where the only thing you've depended on is destroyed, you're going to lose some of that optimism. It's not like, people are dying on every corner in this story, but bad things will happen. It's war. That's what happens.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender
Chapter Four
Appa groaned in protest as Zuko and Katara tugged on the ropes that were tied around his horns. He had planted all of his feet in the mud, refusing to move another step. "Appa, come on! Please, Appa, you have to keep moving!" Katara pleaded, feeling her feet slipping in the mud as the rain poured down around them. "I know you're tired, buddy, but we're almost there!" When the rain had become too heavy for them to fly, the group had landed near a meadow. After an hour of trekking through the thickening mud, Appa had refused to move another step.
"Please, Appa, when we get to Omashu, you can rest all you want." Zuko growled as he strained against the bison. His shoes were covered in mud as the great beast lifted one foot. "And there will be all the food you can eat and someone will clean between your toes…"
Toph, Suki, and Sokka watched as their friends coaxed the bison forward. Sokka had pulled his bag of possessions over his head to keep his head from getting wet. Over the pounding of the rain, the Water Tribe warrior shielded his map with his body. "We only have to walk a little more until we reach Omasu, you can do it, Appa. We're so close!"
As though these words comforted him, the tired animal relaxed his grip on the slippery ground and allowed Katara and Zuko to urge him forward. He snorted and brushed his nose against Zuko's back, breathing warmly against the young man. Does he miss Aang more than we do? The firebender thought as he patted Appa's head. They spent over a hundred years together, and we barely spent one with him. Zuko pushed his rain-soaked hair back over his forehead to prevent it from falling in his eyes.
"Once we're in Omashu, we have to find a member of the White Lotus." Sokka said as he walked on Katara's left, his shoulders hunched. "Wouldn't it be funny if that cabbage merchant we kept running into was a member of the Order?" He snorted as his foot was sucked in the mud. With a grunt, he grabbed his leg and pulled. This movement caused him for pitch forward and fall face first into the slop.
Wordlessly, Suki reached down and dragged him upward, helping him gain his footing in the slippery mess. "I hope this rain stops soon, it'll take forever to get it fully dry and clean again, even with Katara's waterbending." She didn't mean the rain.
Blue flames flashed across the training grounds of the palace. Azula stared across the empty area, her fingertips still smoking. She could imagine the waterbending peasant screaming in fear as her friends collapsed around her, being consumed by the azure inferno. I have a bone to pick with you, Water girl. And Zuzu's not going to be able to jump in to save you this time!
Holding up her index and middle fingers of both of her hands, Azula moved her arms in a ragged circle. At her fingertips, an unstable stream of lightning began to form, jumping across her hand. The lightning caused her uneven hair to flutter, though she was surprisingly calm. She brought her other hand forward, pressing her palms together and sending the firebending generated lightning across the arena. There was a distant explosion as the air combusted.
That was pitiful. I've seen you do better. Azula winced as her muse criticized her. Show the world what Azula can really do. Bearing her teeth, the Fire Lord sent an assault of fireballs at her imaginary target, leaping into the air and setting forward a barrage of fire from her palms. Golden eyes narrowed into chips of flint, she drew back in right hand, fingers extended. At the tips of her nails, blue fire sparked to life as Azula brought her hand down, sending the element into five small whips of fire that lashed the heated air around her. Better.
Azula found ruling the Fire Nation extremely boring at times. The country was only a fragment of what her father ruled and Azula found herself wishing that she was hunting the waterbending peasant and the rest of her allies. Or searching for the Avatar. Torturing her servants was a game to quickly grow bored of, for they no longer dared meet her gaze and the children stayed well away from her when they could. Their fear was an alluring perfume to the Fire Lord and she basked in their reverence when she could. But despite this, Azula was bored. She vaguely wondered if she had spent too much time in the company of Mai.
Mai…that traitor. You should have finished her off long ago. And Ty Le…she would have been a wonderful guard…if she wasn't a fool. Azula clenched her fists and let out her breath, which she hadn't realized she had been holding. Let them rot and die. Starve them. The young woman made a note to herself to order their food rations cut off, as well as their water supply. It was better to kill them now than give them a chance to gain allies later. Or challenge them to an Agni Kai! It didn't matter that neither were firebenders…that would only make it better.
"Don't worry, dear friends, you won't have to suffer much longer. I can end that for you." Azula sneered. After she was done with them, she move on to the Avatar's friends and destroy them one by one, painfully and oh so slowly. The firebender sent a small blast of fire across the arena with a laugh, imagining the traitors running in fear. You can run, but I always find you.
"I see it!" Katara suddenly cried. "I can see Omashu!" She leaped into the air, pointing at the looming buildings in the distance. "We're almost there!" The rain had stopped only moments before and she had bended her friends dry. "Look!"
Zuko narrowed his good eye to see. Upon seeing that Katara wasn't hallucinating, he nodded to the others. "It's really Omashu…" His knees suddenly felt weak. "Really Omashu…finally somewhere safe." He let out a sigh of relief.
Toph stamped her foot, causing the earth under the group to rise. Clenching and unclenching her fists, she caused the raised rock to move forward in the direction of the civilization. "About time we've got somewhere!"
Sokka whooped. "Finally, real food!" He thrust his fist into the air as the great Earth Kingdom city became larger and more defined. "Faster, Toph, faster!" The Water Tribe warrior's indigo eyes gleamed. In eight months, his gaze had never looked so hopeful, so blue.
Katara smiled as her hair blue in the wind, the city's peculiar mailing system coming into view as they approached the wall. Somewhere safe…somewhere safe. She beamed as the silhouette of Omashu's guards came closer. She could almost forget that everything was falling apart. She could almost forget that Aang was dead. She could almost…breathe.
Finally, Toph ground the moving earth to a halt. They were standing before a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers who guarded the interior of the city. Sokka moved forward, his face strangely somber. "We need to enter your city, to see King Bumi. We were the Avatar's mentors."
Two soldiers stepped from the throng, one short and stocky while the other was tall and lacked hair on his face. In unison, they reached into the crevices of their armor and pulled out pieces of twine. Hanging from these strings were tiles. White Lotus tiles. The tallest of the pair dipped at the waist as he placed the homemade talisman into his clothing. "I am Kyanto, a member of the Order of the White Lotus. I recognized you from the day of Sozin's comet." He was a slender man and looked as though he could barely earthbend. His skin was lightly sunkissed and his hair was a thick brown mane. His eyes were chips of emerald flint, twinkling compassionately. "And my companion here is Daiyan," The shorter man nodded, "We are to escort you to the Order's headquarters."
"But…wouldn't the headquarters be in the palace?" Sokka inquired as their two escorts forced the earth walls apart, opening the gates into the city. He led his friends forward, following Kyanto and Daiyan. "Is this place safe?"
Kyanto looked back at the young man, "It's as safe as we want it to be. And we want the Fire Nation to stay out. As for the headquarters being in the palace…the Order of the White Lotus is cleverer than that, don't you think?" He chuckled as he led the young people forward. "Bumi is a genius!"
Katara loosened her grip on Appa's rope as she looked at the streets, filled with people of different skin colors and ages. This might just be the last safe place there is…if only we could bring everyone here. She blinked as she caught sight of a young man seated on the side of the path; his golden-green eyes a stark contrast against the rich green shades around him. As their gazes met, he smiled.
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