Just to warn all ye readers, the next chapter might take a little longer than the others have. I'm swamped right now. But it will continue. It might just take another day or two.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar
CHAPTER 4
"You know, that Dodger guy made it sound like this would be really difficult," Aang said lightly as he and Katara continued waterbending together, effectively wiping the deck clean. "Are we doing something wrong?"
"I don't think so," Katara responded with a shrug. "And if we are, it's entirely your fault."
"Ouch," Aang said with a large fake wince. Katara laughed, and Aang joined her after a few seconds.
"No laughing," Dodger barked from somewhere out of sight. Aang and Katara glanced at each other, stifling their laughs behind their hands.
"Is it weird that we're both so calm about this?" Aang asked at length, watching more grime wash overboard with the water.
"I don't think so… I mean, they're just pirates," Katara replied thoughtfully. "Let's be honest, we've been captured by worse."
"Fair point," Aang sighed. He wiped his hands on his pants and looked around. "I think we're finished."
Katara glanced up at the sun, high in the sky. "And not a moment too soon," she muttered.
"Noon," Dodger shouted, bursting up onto the deck. "You'd better be…" He looked around at the clean deck. "Done. Well… looks like you can at least obey orders."
"Oh leave them alone, Dodger," Keely seemed to materialize beside them, sliding up onto the deck with as much sound as a pygmy panther. "They cleaned the deck and nobody's been killed yet. I think they're getting along rather famously."
"What next?" Aang asked.
Keely smiled pleasantly at them, though she naturally narrowed her eyes and ended up smirking. "We have some lunch," she said with a shrug. "Come below decks, I'll find you some food."
The three of them walked past Dodger, who was watching them suspiciously as they descended below the deck. Robin stepped up beside him.
"Why is Keely being so nice to them?" Dodger asked curiously.
Robin gave him a long look. "I don't know," she replied slowly, but there was a thoughtful tone to her voice that made Dodger look at her. "I think the Demon has a plan."
"What kind of plan?"
"I don't know," she said again. "But… she has something in store for the Avatar."
"Yeah… I thought there was something she wasn't telling us," Dodger said, nodding. "Does it bother you that she's training Keely more than us?"
"No," Robin replied easily. "Keely was made for this. It's the way her mind works."
Dodger nodded again. "True…"
"Does it bother you?"
"It did, but I'm getting used to it."
Robin opened her mouth to speak, but fell silent. Dodger glanced at her again. "All talked out for today?" he asked gently.
Robin looked down and nodded. Dodger placed a comforting hand on her back. She glanced at him, smiling just a bit before she walked away.
0000000
Aang and Katara ate silently, surrounded by young pirates. They were all talking and laughing as they ate, gracefully ignoring the young Avatar and his companion. The two of them watched, taking it all in, occasionally glancing at each other with curious smiles.
The galley began to clear, and quiet descended upon them. Aang wasn't used to silence, so he took initiative.
"So does that Dodger guy remind you of Sokka, or is it just me?"
"I'm so glad you said something," Katara burst out, turning to him with a grin of relief. "He is absolutely just like Sokka."
"Who's Sokka?" one of the few remaining pirates asked. Katara and Aang looked at her in surprise. She wasn't as tan as most of the others, though still a great deal darker than Aang. She had bright green eyes and freckles splashed across her face. She couldn't have been a day over thirteen. She was the first pirate they had come across whom Aang was older than.
The two boys she was sitting with looked over curiously, waiting for Katara or Aang to respond. They looked like brothers, both around the same age as the girl.
"Um… my brother," Katara responded. "My older brother."
"Oh, well if he's anything like Dodger, I'm sorry," the girl laughed. Aang turned his laugh into a cough, and Katara, smirking, elbowed him in the ribs.
"So how's it going, being the new kids and all?" one of the boys asked.
Katara and Aang exchanged a glance. "We're not pirates," Aang said.
The girl laughed. "Piracy is a state of mind, Avatar Aang," she said good-naturedly, getting to her feet. "Something to think about."
With a wave and a quick "See you later!" the girl and the brothers departed. Aang and Katara were left alone in the room, sitting quite still and staring at the door.
"Did that… just happen?" Aang finally said.
"You mean an extremely normal conversation with a thirteen-year-old pirate?" Katara responded blankly.
"Good, so I didn't just imagine it."
"They're just… normal kids," Katara continued thoughtfully. "They're just like us, aren't they? I mean… Dodger is just like Sokka. And Keely… well… she has definitely had some Toph-like moments…"
"I don't get it," Aang said quietly. "Pirates are bad guys… aren't they?"
"Something to think about."
The two of them looked up. Keely had reappeared, leaning on the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Oh… um… sorry, I didn't mean…"
Keely waved a hand at them. "Psh, I don't care if you think we're bad guys," she snorted. "We did kidnap you."
"She's got us there," Aang murmured in Katara's ear. She laughed and Keely rolled her eyes.
"Oh for the love of… would you two 'best friends' please cut it out? Lunch is over," Keely groaned, putting highly exaggerated air quotes around the words "best friends."
Aang and Katara didn't even spare her a blush. "So what's our next assignment?" Aang asked, getting to his feet and offering Katara a hand. She didn't need help to get out of her seat, and he knew it, but she took it anyway, smiling.
"Come on, follow me," Keely sighed, moving back up the stairs and into the afternoon sunlight flooding the deck. "So what do you think so far?"
"Of what?" Katara asked, looking around at the hustle and bustle on deck with mild interest. The girl from before caught her eye and waved at her. Katara waved back, baffled.
"Of the pirate life," Keely exclaimed, turning toward them and spreading her arms wide.
"Well… I have no opinion yet," Aang said officiously. "We've only been pirates for about twelve hours, half of which we were unconscious for."
"Oh, so you're calling yourself a pirate now?" Katara asked, smirking at him.
"No, I'm calling both of us pirates," Aang replied airily. "It's kind of exciting, isn't it? Being an outlaw."
Keely laughed derisively and they both looked at her. "Please. You cleaned the deck. You aren't pirates," she sighed, shaking her head. "Not yet, anyway."
"I thought piracy was a state of mind," Aang said with a grin.
"It is," Keely agreed. "And you don't have it."
Suddenly, the Demon strode out on deck and stopped right in the center. "Gather round, pirates," she shouted, bringing the ship to immediate silence. "It's everyone's favorite time of the week."
There was a loud groan throughout the ranks.
"Aw, sorry, children, but I am the captain here, and I am keeping you all in shape," the Demon continued loudly. "Sparring time." She looked around the crew with a grin. "Who wants a turn?"
A ringing silence followed.
"I do."
Everyone looked over. Aang stepped up next to the Demon, smiling pleasantly. The Demon, surprised, grinned in amusement.
"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara hissed.
"I'm getting into a pirate state of mind," he replied quietly, grinning at her. She sighed, shaking her head in mild exasperation.
"Who's my opponent?" Aang asked the Demon.
The Demon thought for a moment, looking around at a very wary group of pirates. She grinned.
"Me."
More ringing silence. Aang cocked his head to the side.
"Are you always the opponent?" he asked the Demon curiously.
"She's never the opponent," Dodger answered for her.
The Demon shrugged. "This would be the first time," she admitted, pulling the two staffs from her back and handing Aang his own. Aang looked at her staff, confused. It was slightly shorter than his, but other than the curious designs near each end it looked like a regular staff. Hadn't Kwei said the Demon used a special weapon deadlier than an arrow to the head?
"Aang… be careful…" Katara whispered in his ear as the pirates backed away, closing Aang, Katara, and the Demon in a circle.
"Don't worry," Aang said simply, gesturing for her to back away. For a moment, it looked as though she would resist. But she sighed and backed away, standing between Keely and Dodger.
The pirates fell silent as Aang and the Demon faced each other. The Demon spun her staff in her hands, getting the feel of it. She hadn't been in battle in a while; she was out of practice.
"Isn't that staff also a glider?" Dodger muttered to Keely.
"Yeah, why?"
"What's stopping him from just taking off?"
"Same reason they didn't just waterbend themselves out of here. Miles and miles of ocean in every direction with no sense of where land is." Keely smirked. "Besides, he'd never leave his darling Katara here, Dodger," she whispered, careful not to let Katara hear. "If he tries to take her, we stop him. Simple enough. He knows that, he's not stupid."
"Yeah, and his darling Katara knows it too," Katara said suddenly. Keely looked at her in surprise. "You're right, he's not stupid."
Keely flushed. Katara smirked and returned her gaze to Aang. Dodger laughed.
"Man, she got you," he snickered. Keely glared at him.
"Ready?" she snapped.
"Yep," the Demon and Aang said in unison.
"Alright, what are you waiting for? Go!"
The Demon moved forward in a flash. Katara gasped. She had never seen anyone move that fast, and apparently neither had Aang. He was sent flying backward, his back colliding with the mast. The pirates started cheering and the Demon smiled, slowly circling around in front of him.
Aang dropped into a crouch on the deck, rubbing his shoulder and scowling up at the Demon. "You don't waste any time, do you?"
"You waste time, you get killed," the Demon said, shrugging.
"Well then, I guess I'd better stop wasting time," Aang replied simply, leaping forward and bringing his staff swishing through the air at the Demon's midriff. His eyes widened. She had moved again, sidestepping him before he had even moved. He felt her staff across his back and was thrown forward. The pirates were still roaring in excitement as Katara stepped forward, catching Aang before he hit the deck.
"Hey hey, no helping," Dodger snapped, grabbing Katara by the shoulder and pulling her back into the crowd.
Katara instantly resisted, wrenching her arm out of his grasp without a second thought. "Aang-"
Keely reached forward and caught a strong grip on her elbow, jerking her backward. Katara tried again to pull free, but Keely's grasp was a great deal stronger than Dodger's.
"He volunteered," Keely said, smirking. "He's not stupid."
Katara flushed angrily but didn't say a word.
"I believe the score is now tied," Dodger said slyly.
"Shut up, Dodger," Keely growled.
Aang was back on his feet, slowly circling the Demon, keeping his eyes on her. She was doing the same thing.
"I've never fought an airbender before," she said lightly. "But so far I'm not impressed."
Aang's eyes narrowed. Katara bit her lip. Suddenly, the name "Demon" no longer seemed so misleading.