Chapter Seven:
The Siege
"The Fire Nation will be at our shores in little more than a day," Chief Arnook's voice echoed, the words sounding haunted coming out of his mouth.
"Yes," Zuko answered, sitting up straight as the eyes of the Water Tribe citizens bored into his back. His voice felt loud in the huge chamber of the gathering hall. "The Fire Nation navy is sailing this way right now."
Arnook's mouth was set in a thin line. Even with both Aang and his uncle sitting by his side, Zuko felt grim. Hopelessness seeped into the air. He couldn't help but think that a day's notice and an extra boat of fighters wouldn't make much of a difference.
"Wait. I have an idea!" Sokka's voice pierced the silence as he stood. He stared at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes, like he'd done so many times on the back of the sky bison. "We have to make the most of this advantage we have. Zuko, your crew could easily pass off as any regular Fire Nation soldier, right?"
He nodded, and his crew grumbled assurance.
"And they wouldn't happen to know how to sabotage a ship, would they?"
Jee laughed, "After floating on that ship for 3 years, we know about a hundred and one ways a ship can break."
"Perfect," he could see the gears turning beneath Sokka's eyes, "We'll use the night as cover. The Fire Nation won't attack the city in moonlight, if they know what's good for them, and that'll be our chance. We canoe over there, our waterbenders could get you on the ship, then you guys do your thing, and you get out of there as soon as you can!"
Sokka looked at him, searching for affirmation. Infiltrating a Fire Nation warship, sneaking right under their enemy's noses, crippling the navy from within; it was a crazy plan that just might work. Something about that felt very familiar.
"We should find their commanding officer," Arnook added.
Zuko tensed. "Zhao. I'll take care of him."
"Wait!" A guy popped on his feet, fuming and indignant. From Sokka's grumbling, they'd met before and were on less than perfect terms. "You're going to listen to them just like that? How do we know we can trust them? You said you only knew that one!" The guy pointed a finger out at Zuko. "How can we trust the rest of them?"
Arnook frowned and looked to the Avatar for an answer.
Aang turned to him. "Zuko, do you trust them?"
Did he trust them? His crew and his uncle that had stuck with him through three years at sea, had put up with an angsty, rage fueled prince, and had searched for him for weeks after Zhao's capture? "With my life."
"Then I can vouch for them, Chief Arnook."
"But-" The guy stuttered.
"Enough, Hahn." Arnook cut him off. The chief's wizened eyes grew heavy with thought, weighing the plan on his mental scales, before giving a slow nod. "Very well. For now we wait, and we will weather the first strike as well as we can." Now, Arnook stood straight, holding his hands out to his people. "As we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us!" He cast a look towards Zuko, and the spark of confidence in his eyes grew a little brighter. "Spirit of the Sun, smile down on our cause."
The Water Tribe gave a rousing cheer. For the first time in a long time, a fire lit in Zuko's chest.
The North Pole's night was frigid and silent. Their boat sliced through the currents with little more than a whisper.
One waterbender sat at the bow of the canoe while the other sat at the back, whipping up a fog as cover. Half a dozen boats streaked past them, but Zuko's docked at the side of the very first battleship. Gold embellished its edges, singling it out as the headquarters of a certain Admiral.
"Remember," the waterbender muttered, "You get in there, stay masked, disrupt the ship anyway you can, and then get back here. If nothing goes wrong, we'll be around to pick you up."
The other saboteurs nodded, though Zuko knew he had his own plans. The water at his side began to bubble.
"Don't wait up for me," Zuko said as he stepped off the side, and the waterbender shot him up over the railing.
He landed soundlessly, breath shallow under his metal helmet. The floor of the ship was nearly empty, only a pair of soldiers who had their backs turned to him. Zuko marched across the deck, as if he had ever right to be here. No one gave him a second glance when he slipped into the innards of the ship.
He let loose a breath. Step one complete. Now he was on his own.
He snaked through the halls with no real plan in mind, just that Zhao was here and Zuko was eager to settle his odds.
He walked with ease. In the company of his uncle and crew, his leg had healed rapidly. With another bit of healing from Katara, the limp had almost completely vanished.
But be careful, She'd said, Don't strain yourself too much. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you're still healing.
She was right, it certainly didn't feel like he still needed healing. Zuko was on top of the world; he could walk, he could fight, and for once he was fighting for something worth fighting for. Even if he was still healing, Zuko wasn't about to pull his punches, especially if Zhao was involved.
A voice echoed through the metal hall. He followed the sound, even though the more he heard, the more he writhed.
The Admiral stood on a moonlit balcony, and Zuko had to fight the urge to run out there and throttle Zhao over the railing. Logic thought better of it. A line of guards stood on either side of the opening to the deck, and as good as Zuko might feel, he was not ready to take on half a dozen firebenders. Pair that with the fact that his firebending hadn't exactly come back in full swing yet, and his urge was quickly reined in.
Sure, he had his swords tucked under his armor, but that wasn't a fight he was willing to start. Zuko stood at the side, masquerading as another soldier at attention, and waited. He could hear snippets of conversation from the deck.
Another general stood at Zhao's side. "It'll be a full moon tomorrow night. Our force might be strong, but we haven't seen the Water Tribe with the moon on their side."
"That won't be a problem," Zhao answered, "I plan on removing the moon from the equation."
Zuko didn't know what he meant by that, but it was nothing good. Erasing the moon from the equation… that was impossible, wasn't it? The moon was the moon, you couldn't exactly pull it down and throw it away. But what else could Zhao mean?
He didn't hear much else of the plan after that, no matter how much he strained his ears. Hours passed, his legs cramped, and he was seriously considering attacking just to break the tedium. Before that came to fruition, the horizon flared red behind the Water Tribe's frigid towers.
"There's the sun," Zhao mused, "Resume the siege. Ready the force for a ground assault."
His general bowed, and scurried away. It wasn't long before the ships churned forward, but something was awry. Fires burned on the decks of several ships, a dozen other cruisers stopped and fell behind, catapult rounds arced and fell in the ocean, or sometimes, other ships. Their own ship fell to a stop with a groan and a mighty shiver.
The general scrambled back on deck. "There's been foul play last night. Catapults are misfiring, engines are malfunctioning, propellers are frozen."
Zuko had to stifle a laugh as he watched the Admiral's face redden. His crew had done their job. Perhaps it wasn't a crushing force against Zhao's fleet, but a trip and a fall at least.
"Those barbarians will be sorry for that." He hissed. "We won't miss a few ships. Make for land, we're taking this city by force!"
The general cleared his throat. "Well, um, the propellers are frozen, sir…"
"Well, unfreeze them!"
A bow, a lot of shouting and some engine groaning later, the ship roared back to life. It plowed through the glacier wall and clawed into the ice, like a glorified reenactment of the time Zuko had crashed into the Southern Water Tribe. The moment felt like forever ago.
Zhao turned back to face his guards, a paper clutched in his hand and a cruel grin on his face. "We'll be following this map to a very special location. And when we get there, we're going fishing."
Zuko knew even less of what to make of that than his moon rambling last night. Getting off the ship meant opportunity though, and if the chance popped up soon enough, he'd never have to find out what Zhao's babbling meant.
They marched off the ship and their boots hit the ice, Zhao in the lead with five firebenders and Zuko fanned out behind him like a mini battalion. Five firebenders and Zhao… he could take them, maybe, and he did have the element of surprise after all. He could take them… if he wasn't so out of practice. If his firebending were at its full power. If he wasn't still healing. Zuko sighed, and marched on. He could wait. If there was anything he'd learned over the weeks, it was that a little bit of patience made all the difference.
Despite worries that he might have to fight the Water Tribe to keep up his act, Zhao skirted the edges of battle. Soon, the sound of fighting faded behind them as they threaded through abandoned city streets. Whatever Zhao was planning, Zuko didn't know how much longer he could wait. He shouldered his swords in a better position.
They came to a wall of ice and passed through a round wooden door in the middle of it, and it was like sunlight breaking through the clouds. Not just because the oasis they had walked into felt like a patch of spring in the middle of the tundra, but because Zuko had just gotten the chance he needed. They weren't alone in the oasis; Sokka, Katara, and Yue stood at the ready. Aang sat crossed legged, meditating in the center of it all.
"Zhao!" Katara shouted, stepping in front of the Avatar. "Stay away from him."
"Don't bother. I don't want the Avatar." The Admiral said, to everyone's surprise. "Just step aside, and none of you get hurt."
"Like I'd believe that." A wave of water rose up under her command, and Sokka raised up his boomerang.
Zhao turned his head to his guards and nodded. They stepped forward, including Zuko, and stood ready to fire. Seven firebenders against a waterbender and a boomerang; not good odds at all, even if that waterbender was a master in an almost full moon, but Zuko was about to tip those odds to the defender's favor.
Just as Katara raised her ice spike to hurl at them, just as a flame started to flicker in the guards' hands, just before Sokka let his boomerang fly: Zuko flared out a fire and sent the two guards closest to him scrambling backwards. He pivoted on his heel, pulled his swords from under his armor and stepped back to stand by the Water Tribe siblings. His helmet hit the snow with a thud.
"Let's make these odds just a little bit more fair." Zuko smirked. The three behind him mirrored the expression.
Meanwhile, Zhao was anything but a happy camper. "Attack!"
They spared no time getting to it. Katara's spire of ice met with a fireball and broke into splinters, spraying them with icy mist. She fired half a dozen more in quick succession, but the firebenders sent their own shots to match. Sokka quickly lost his boomerang, not before a hearty clunk! as it made contact with a helmet, and charged the guards with club in hand.
Zuko lunged forward, a guard against each of his fire tipped swords. He hadn't fought since… since Pohuai stronghold, and the rush nearly blinded him. To stand up for himself and fight for something bigger: it was a long awaited change from weeks of limping and being dragged around.
Pohuai stronghold… Zhao. Where was Zhao?
Zuko scanned the scene in a millisecond. Between the fighting, Yue had slipped away, calling for help no doubt. Still cross legged before the oasis was Aang. How he managed to meditate through it all was beyond him. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a shadow at the doorway just as it disappeared.
A well placed hit on a firebender's helmet sent one unconscious, while a burst of fire sent the other scrambling. With another guard trapped in a pillar of ice, the battle was evenly matched, though Zuko couldn't stay much longer.
He raced through the doorway with a furor. "I'm going after him!"
There was a muffled "Wait!" but Zuko was not about to turn back now, and Sokka and Katara were already busy with the remaining guards.
Zuko was quickly on the Admiral's tail, his black and red armor standing out like a sore thumb. Right as they reached a bridge, he sent a fireball flying past Zhao's head, making him stop dead in his tracks. When he saw it was him, Zhao all but growled.
"You. So this is where you've been."
"Running away, Zhao?" He mocked.
"This is only the beginning. Though, you won't get the chance to see what I have in store. Your treachery ends today!" A wall of flame rushed forward. Zuko leaped through it, coming out the other side swinging. "I always knew your greed outweighed your loyalty, but this?" Zhao spat as he threw fireball after fireball. "This is a different level of treachery! You'll pay for this betrayal."
"Want to talk about greed? Look at yourself! You're throwing your entire army against this city, for what? So you get the fame? The titles?"
A sword sliced down towards Zhao, clattering harmlessly on the armor of his forearm. Zhao pitched his arm out, sending the blade flying into the river.
"You know nothing. I'm spreading the glory of the Fire Nation!"
One sword in hand, Zuko stood his ground. "This war is killing them. I'm trying to help my people, which is more than you've ever done!"
A fiery fist swung towards him. Zuko ducked and circled back, a little trick he's learned from a certain airbender, and managed to get a good hit on Zhao from behind. He recovered quickly and took a step back, eyes seething with rage.
"You'll never see home. I make sure of that right now!" He lunged, fire grazing Zuko's arm and making the armor there warm to the touch. Zhao was frenzied now, fighting close and reckless, not caring if he got burned in the process. Zuko blocked shots of fire and tried to back away, but Zhao kept on his heels and gave him no time to attack back.
Then, Zhao drove his ironclad foot into his left calf, right where the arrow had hit.
Katara was right. No matter how much he thought otherwise, his leg was not completely healed yet. It was like ice: solid enough at first glance, but put enough pressure and it shattered into shards. Zuko buckled onto his knees, pain cutting up through his calf, then another kick, and Zuko's on his back, sword clattering out of his grasp. Not missing a beat, Zhao crushed his bad leg under his boot. When the stars cleared from his vision, Zhao's foot was on his chest, pinning him down and squeezing the breath from his lungs.
"I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance." Dimly, he saw Zhao pull his arm back, flames blazing around his fist.
The reality that Zhao was about to end his life shot through him like a bolt of lightning. Even in death, he would be trapped by Zhao. It seemed almost fitting, though; Zhao had started him on this path, and now he would end it. It was a heinous truth, but with pain snaking through his spine and Zhao's boot on his chest, it wasn't something he could fight.
Zuko's eyes were blurred and quickly growing dark, but he heard a sound. A beautiful sound; The flat clunk! of a boomerang making contact with an iron helmet.
The pressure on his chest disappeared as Zhao reeled back. From both sides of the bridge, a stream of water shot up and wrapped the Admiral in an icy cocoon.
Zuko lay there, half because of his leg, and half because of the shock. Zuko had relied on himself and only himself for so long that the idea of someone having his back seemed nothing short of a miracle.
"You know, you don't have to go barrelling out on your own all the time." Sokka jeered as he made his way besides him. "You could always, I don't know, ask someone to back you up?"
With some effort, he got him to sit up, and Katara quickly made her way to them with healing water already in her hands. The glowing blue wrapped around his calf, soaking up the strain, but not nearly as much as it used to, though now wasn't the time to worry about that.
"Aang?" Zuko croaked through the pain.
"He got through to the spirits." Katara looked out to the bay.
There, the iron dots of Fire Nation ships spotted the ocean, but it was a much different sight than earlier that day. The sea itself was at war. Ice locked propellers still, whirlpools churned ships in circles, tides surged over the railings and flooded decks. Waves ran back and forth, slowly driving the ships out to sea. Push and pull, push and pull.
He could just make out the silhouette of the Avatar, rising in the air on a crest of water, arrows glowing blue. The stream that led from the oasis, under the bridge, and out to the ocean glowed the same spectral blue.
Zhao roared fire into the air, though there was little else he could do at this point. With the spirits, the moon, the ocean, and a little bit of fire on the North's side, Zhao's fleet had no choice but to pull back.
AN: I might have fallen into a time hole and missed the last few weeks. Sorry. It's not even a Saturday, but I think I've made you wait long enough. I got this chapter out eventually, though. Better late than never? Love you guys, thank you for all the support. (Also, cheer for the Lion Vultures in the Pro-bending Circuit. Semi-finals are soon, but we're crushing it so far!) :D
Next up: The ?-?-?
In which Zuko is freed, everyone celebrates, and it is only the beginning.