~~ The guard holding Sokka's boomerang tossed it clumsily and it wobbled a bit before Sokka caught it and hurled it back, striking the man along with two others and coming back to its owner. The men fell, causing other guards to stumble in their wake and fall on top of them. Mai jumped over the pile of guards and rolled before throwing two daggers towards Sokka.
He knocked one away with his stick and managed to weave to the right to avoid the other one. His ankle gave way however, and he fell to the ground. Mai a chance and charged, tossing another group of daggers. Sokka closed his eyes and prepared for the worst when he heard the sound of earth moving. When he opened them again, he say a block of stone had extended out of the ground and blocked the projectiles.
After lowering the wall, Toph leapt over Sokka and slammed her fist into the ground, creating a shockwave that Mai jumped over with ease. The rest of the guards weren't so lucky, and they tumbled to the ground. Mai was about to come down on Toph when Sokka struck her in the jaw with another skillful boomerang throw. The girl landed on her feet and was standing again in seconds, reading more daggers and rushing the two.
They leapt to the side, Toph extending the ground below her just enough to cause her to trip and fall onto her face. Sokka turned to the other guards who were starting to get back on their feet.
"How's that wall coming Chit Sang?" Sokka asked.
The firebender was done spot welding and had moved on to simply pounding the weak spot in the wall with fireballs.
"It's going to be open any minute!" he called back.
"Toph, can you handle her?" Sokka asked, motioning to Mai.
"No problem." Toph said with a smirk. "I've got some extra anger I need to work out."
Mai flipped back onto her feet as Sokka bolted towards the crowd of guards, one of which was almost twice Sokka's size and clad in full armor. He plowed into the chest of the one at the front of the pack, bringing an entire group down as well. Another one came at his side, and Sokka managed to roll out of his way. That's when he spotted the gleam of his sword at the hilt of a guard lying on his back.
Toph meanwhile, was having more trouble then she had expected. Mai was avoiding every attack she threw at her. Rock spires, waves of stone, boulders, nothing seemed to phase her. Finally, Mai got close enough to throw another series of daggers at the other girl, who swiftly dodged them. She sidestepped her attacks until she got within arm's reach, at which point she stomped the ground and made one of Mai's feet sink into the sand below until her entire ankle was submerged.
She struggled momentarily while Toph grabbed her wrists and bound them with earthen cuffs, which she fused with the floor. Finally, Mai sighed and relaxed her body, slowly working her small wrists out of the bonds.
Finally, Chit Sang broke down a decent sized hole in the wall. It did certainly look like it would be big enough for Appa, which meant that the three escapees would be able to make it through as well. He looked out onto the battlefield and saw that Toph was running to help Sokka, who had his hands full with what looked like a small battalion of guards. Chit Sang had been in this situation before, except it was always reversed. He was the one causing a distraction while the other people escaped.
He could change the pattern though. He could simply run, leaving the children to be recaptured and who knows what else. He smirked as he climbed through the hole, dropping down a few feet to the other side.
Sokka watched Chit Sang go and couldn't believe it. He shoved another guard as he headed towards his sword, but the larger one, whose name he had learned through his comrades shouting, was Jax, was running straight for him. Toph was dealing with some of the guards, but she couldn't do everything. When he was less than a foot away, he was tackled hard enough to take the wind out of him.
He came down hard on top of the boy when they landed, and Sokka heard something inside him crack. He shouted out in pain, and Jax brought him up with him when he rose. He tossed him like a rag doll, and Sokka's pain intensified as he slammed into the wall of the prison itself. Toph felt Sokka's heart rate rise, and she hurried over to where he was. That's when a stray blade flew past her leg, causing her to stumble and fall just short of him.
Mai had gotten out of her cuffs, and had managed to turn around and toss another dagger while still being held in the ground by her ankle. The blade had made its mark, and Toph and Sokka were in a bad situation. At least two dozen guards were still on their feet, and as Jax helped Mai out of the ground, the others were surrounding the teens. Sokka sighed as he rose.
"Alright Toph, if this is how we have to go out, then so be it. You ready?"
Toph backed up until she bumped into Sokka's back, she reached her hand out and took Sokka's, who squeezed it in response. Before a single blow could land, a voice rang out through the courtyard.
"Don't even think that I'm leaving without you guys!" a deep voice boomed.
Chit Sang descended upon the scene, blasting away the men as they shouted obscenities at him. Jax chuckled and advanced on the bulky firebender while Toph and Sokka bolted towards the hole. They stopped at the wall and called for Chit Sang to follow them.
"I've realized something you two." he yelled as he grappled with Jax. "This place is more of a home for me then I've ever had out there! I have friends here, and a girlfriend! You two need to live your lives! I'll be fine!"
Seconds after finishing his sentence, his hand was crushed in Jax's grip. He called out in agony and fell to his knees. Toph gasped and started to go back before Sokka grabbed her arm.
"No Toph! We have to get back to Suki and Katara and Aang…and Zuko to a lesser extent! He's buying us time!"
Jax slammed his knee into Chit Sang's face, and more guards started to head towards the hole. As they turned to leave however, they saw Mai's nearly expressionless face greeting them. Her face was adorned with the traditional cuts and bruises of battle.
"Is it true that you know where Zuko is?" she asked.
"Well, not exactly. I mean, he's on our team now but he and Aang are kind of…missing."
"Can you take me to him?" Mai inquired hopefully.
"Can you help us get out of here?" Sokka asked.
"Of course." Mai replied.
She stepped in front of the hole and brought several more knives out of her sleeves, reading them between her fingers. When the time was right she tossed them, embedding them in the chests of 8 guards, killing them instantly. The remaining guards stopped dead in their tracks and started to back away. Realizing that they had their chance to retaliate, Sokka and Toph began to head back into the prison, but Mai held her hand out.
"Go around the prison and get to the top. My balloon is waiting for us there. If I'm not there in five minutes, leave without me."
Sokka nodded and pulled Toph away and out of the hole. Meanwhile, Mai calmly strode down the rubble that had formed from the shattered pieces of the wall until she was on even ground with the guards. Jax laughed and walked away from Chit Sang's body.
"Really Mai? Your changing sides for your boyfriend? How cliché."
"Stand down Jax. That's an order." Mai said, stone-faced.
"This isn't about the pay or the glory anymore little girl. This is personal. I'm too far involved now."
"Fine then. I'll just have to take you down a peg."
Another laugh from Jax as the two walked closer to each other.
"What are you going to do Mai? Bore me to death? I don't know how any man deals with you. You're such a drag."
The whole time Jax spoke, Mai was reading her final two daggers. These shots had to count.
"Come on then girly. Let's see what you've got."
Mai's lips curled once again into the faintest hint of a smile, the most she'd ever had in one day. Then, she struck.
~~ Appa knocked trees away as he flew just above them. Suki and Katara were on opposite sides of the saddle and were peering over the edge, scanning the surroundings for any sign of Zuko or Aang. Suki pointed out a point up ahead where there was a large clearing that looked like it definitely wasn't supposed to be there. They touched down directly in the center of it and examined the ground.
Their first thought was a large fire or explosion of some kind, but it looked like the grass and trees had been ripped out of the ground by some sort of wind storm.
"This definitely looks like Aang's doing." Katara said. "We might be getting close to finding out what happened to them."
"So that means we're following Aang's trail. What about Zuko?" Suki asked.
"Once we find Aang, it'll be a whole lot easier to find Zuko. Let's keep moving."
3 Days Earlier
~~ Despite the stinging pain in Aang's back, he kept running through the forest, trying desperately to block out Zuko's cries of pain as their mysterious assailants took him away. Aang's foot hit a branch and he stumbled and rolled into another tree, his staff hitting a branch about eight feet away from him. As he clambered to retrieve it, another net caught his ankle and tripped him once more.
The leader of the group had followed him, staying just out of the Avatar's field of vision. As Aang crawled to his staff, the man chuckled and yanked on the cable that attached the net to his ankle. He slid for a few moments before rolling over and sending a blast of air at his attacker, who swiftly dodged it, dropping the cable in the process. Aang took the opportunity to reach down and release himself from the net, back-flipping into a standing position and cringing a little as his wound twitched.
The man readied yet another net, but Aang spun his staff as quickly as he could, then slammed it into the ground. It blasted the attacker into a tree and tossed the net miles away. Finally, the two were face to face. The attacker had no more weapons hidden up his sleeves. Aang was breathing hard as he readied his staff for battle. The man smirked, but under his mask, Aang was none the wiser. Then, he charged, throwing a fireball that startled the boy who just barely managed to duck under it. He had forgotten that the man was also a firebender.
A few more fire and air balls flew back and forth before Aang had had enough. Being unable to activate the Avatar State, he had to muster up all his power for one blow that would hopefully finish him off. After he was charged at again, Aang leapt several feet into the air and extended the glider from his staff, circling high above the battlefield. He continued flying in circles, gathering clouds and air up into what looked like a large tornado. It got larger, and the trees below started to get pulled upwards towards the funnel. The man sighed and grabbed hold of a nearby trunk.
"I'm going to get double for this kid, mark my words."
Eventually, the bark he was holding onto ripped away, then the tree itself followed suit. At least a dozen trees went with it, and finally, Aang relinquished his grip on the tornado, which immediately started dissipating. The trees flew in all different directions, and so did Aang's assailant. Exhausted, the airbender touched down and fell to his knees, dropping his staff as he did so.
As he laid his head down against a pile of leaves he had stirred up, he thought to himself:
"What's the harm of laying down for a few minutes?"
He yawned and stretched out before shutting his eyes and dozing off. He had no idea that a little boy had been watching Aang since he saw the tornado form. He ran out of the forest and approached the unconscious Avatar, tapping him with his foot and bolting to hide behind a tree. After a few minutes of repeated prodding and running, he was assured that Aang was asleep. With some difficulty, he managed to lift Aang into his rickety wheelbarrow that he had been using to collect firewood, and he pushed him away.
~~ An enormous, extravagant zeppelin emblazoned with the Fire Nation insignia was heading west. On its main deck, stood the Fire Lord. The wind blew through his hair, and he closed his eyes, for a second wondering what it would be like to control the very breeze. His thoughts were interrupted by a soldier approaching him.
"Sir, we just received more news. A group of bounty hunters have captured your son and they wish to return him for his bounty."
Ozai smiled at the news of his sons capture.
"Turn us around. I want to oversee this myself."
"Sir? What about the situation at the Boiling Rock? I thought you wanted to oversee that as well."
"I heard that Azula's friend, the dagger girl, is there."
"Miss Mai? Yes, she should have arrived a short time ago."
"I believe she can handle everything that the Avatar's friends can hand out."
"Alright sir I'll let the captain know."
As the soldier left, Ozai resumed his thoughts, letting himself be surrounded by the air.
