Chapter 4: The brothers in the forest (Part 2)

Zuko opened his eyes. It was painful. He couldn't see. Was it dark? Or was it just that his eyes hadn't adapted to the surroundings yet? He tried to get up, but he couldn't, because his hands were tied, and so were his feet. As he struggled, he heard some voices outside. The voices of the four who had captured him. They were unclear, so he could only hear some of the words being spoken.

"Prince… exile… bounty"

Did they talk of him? Had Azula put a bounty on his head? Zuko thought that he had to get up, and away. But, he heard the voices some more.

"Avatar… here… Waterbender girl… ransom"

What did they speak of. Had they spotted the Avatar? Wait, a waterbender girl with the Avatar? The thing Zuko wanted the least was to encounter her again. Now he really had to get outta here. He thought how to get out, before realizing that he was tied with normal ropes, so he did simply ignite a fire around his hands, which caused the rope to burn away. He then sent a small fire at the rope around his legs, got up, and exited the tent he was in. He wasn't sure whether or not he could take them on in his current state, but before he could think, one of the brothers was standing in front of him. He took up an empty hilt, and suddenly a flame streamed up from the hilt, creatign a sword. He then charged at Zuko.

"You the only one here?" Zuko asked.

"Nah, but we fight one-on-one" he said.

'This is at my advantage then' Zuko thought. If they only took him one at one, he could take them down. He dodged Han's attack easily. Han just made a smirk and cahrged at Zuko again, screaming. Zuko doged this as well. The next attack though, he didn't dodge. Rather, he just manipulated the flame sword so that it disappeared, before knocking Han down. He sent a fire blast at him, but he simply blocked it. uko looked around for anything that could be a kind of armory. He saw some worn armor pieces outside one of the tents, and ran over there, blocking any fire arrows Han sent at him. When he got into the tent, he saw several swords, and picked up a broadsword, and set the tent on fire before exiting it. He then charged at Han, swinging the sword at an extraordinary pace. 'I guess my heavy sword training came to some use once after all' he thought. Han was barely dodging his sword attacks at it was, and when Zuko sent a small blast of fire at him, he got knocked backwards. Zuko then raised his sword, and ent it down on him to deliver the finishing blow. But, he never got so far, becaue Han drew a sword of his own; a real sword, and blocked Zuko's attack. He then rolled away, and jumped to his feet. He charged at Zuko with his katana, and Zuko was forced to dodge it. Zuko then ran behind a tree, hiding, before making a fire ball in his hands, which he rapidly expanded, making it really huge; twice his own size at least. He then looked out, to the small camp, and saw Han looking around. He sent the fire ball at him. Han noticed something, and turned around to see the fire ball, just a bit to late, so he barely managed to create a small ball of his own to send at Zuko's, reducing the impact a bit, only enough to avoid dying instantly. Zuko then ran at him with his sword, to deliver the final blow, he stopped in his tracks when a arrow of water passed by him.

"Don't touch him. I'll be your opponent now" a man said.

Zuko didn't pay attention, but rather threw his sword the short distance to Han; which almost cut his body in half, killing him off.

"You…!" the archer said "Well, he underestimated you. I won't do so" the man said. He was very tall and silver-haired, unlike the firebender Zuko had just beaten whom looked like himself except the bald head. "I am Ban" the man said. He held a bow that was no more than water shaped like a bow. He created an arrow, almsot out of nowhere, before firing at Zuko. Zuko barely dodged the arrow. He picked up the katana belonging to the now dead Han, and ran towards him. He sent fire blasts at him, but they died out in mid-air. What was he? Zuko thought. How could he do that? Zuko didn't care right now, and jumped up to the branch he was on, slashing his sword at him, but it simply hit a wall, and then floated up in the air, which had turned quite foggy now. It then broke in a thousand small pieces. Zuko then suddenly felt an intesne pain on his body; it was as if someone were squeezing him. He then saw, in the air around him, that the fog slowly turned to water. Zuko now figured what he was doing: He was using the water in the air, compressing it around Zuko. And, now that it was foggy; it was ideal for this technique. 'If it just wasn't foggy' Zuko thought.

"If it wasn't foggy, then I wouldn't be able to do this?" Ban said, utterly lacking any emotion. "You are wrong, child. I can draw water from anything, anywhere."

'How can he read my thoughts?' Zuko wondered to himself.

"It was merely reading thoughts. I just knew you would react like that. Existing for thousands of years gives you the experience to know knwo such things".

Now Zuko was confused. This man didn't seem like the same one who had spoken before they left.

"Who are you?" Zuko asked?

"Oh? You realized? Maybe you aren't as stupid as I thought" he said. "I am Bajatawa. That is all you need to know. All I know is that you must die. That is what I was tasked to do. And no…" he was interrupted as a huge stream of water struck him, causing the water around Zuko to fall down, releasing him. Zuko then saw over where the water came from. 'Oh, no. Not her!' he thought, and ran away the first thing.

Bajatawa arose, and saw over, noticing Katara with her octopus technique. "Hmm… it seems things have complicated. I must take my leave." he said, and flew off into the fog.

One thing you should know, I am not going to have any ships in this fic. There is a completely other reason to why Katara was here now.