Scared
Sokka watched nervously as Aang addressed the bartender; questioning him about the Warriors.
The two nodded to each other, engaging in what was going to be a long conversation.
Sokka ordered a drink and waited. Minutes passed by and he was about ready to drag Aang from the tavern. But he didn't need too; because his laughing friend was already making his way back over.
He sat down, obviously a little under the influence of his drink; which Sokka had seen him gulp down quickly when he'd first went to the counter.
"Alright," he hesitated, focusing on Sokka. "The nice man over there just told me…" he swayed a bit, which made Sokka also think he'd had more then one glass. "You're Fighters,"
"Warriors."
"Warriors, came through here not to many… days ago… he said they demanded free service and left after raiding the shelves," he hesitated again. "Of… what do they sell here?"
"Come on." He stood up, grabbing the Avatar's arms and pulling him to his feet. "For a monk Aang, I'm surprised you even took one sip of that stuff."
Once outside, he dragged the almost asleep boy to the bison, hauling him up. "Spirits Aang, how much of that stuff did you have?"
"Just…" he counted his fingers until he got to five. "How much is this?" Then he fell backwards into the saddle, asleep.
"Yip yip," Sokka muttered, grabbing the reins.
The moon had risen hours before and he stared up at it longingly. "It's been awhile." He whispered, smiling. "I miss you." He wished that the woman in the moon would answer him, but she didn't and he continued on, flying the direction the Warriors had gone.
Aang woke late into the day, sitting up with his hands covering his mouth. After lying over the side of Appa for what seemed like the longest
Time; he pulled back up. "What happened?" he demanded tiredly, crawling toward the front of the saddle.
"You got drunk." Sokka replied with a laugh. "Really drunk."
"But I didn't drink tahat many…!"
"Yeah you did. No use in worrying about how many you had though, it's already splattered on someone's face below." He smiled at his own joke.
Aang had a horrified look on his pale face, glancing over the bison; then sitting back down. "I can't believe I did that."
"It happens to everyone," Sokka brought the bison lower to the ground. "I can see the village…" he stopped, staring at the scene before him. "Oh no…" he whispered, pulling back up into the clouds. He cursed, extremely loud, causing Aang to look at him questioningly.
"You'll see." He growled, pulling off toward the nearest clear patch in the tree below them, away from the village.
They neared the village clearing, under cover of the trees. Sokka could smell smoke from a mile away, where he'd left Appa and Momo to wait while he and Aang crawled through the dense forest.
"What's going on?" Aang questioned, looking about at the sound of cries for help.
"Isn't it obvious?" he hissed, peering through the bushes into the houses below them. "Sashu's burning the village."
"But why?"
"No doubt they were harboring Fire Nation soldiers. Whether they were rebels or not, Sashu will have most likely…" he stopped, glancing at his friend.
"What?"
"We'll just see." He waved the question off, like he'd done so many times. "Come on."
They crept forward, toward the opening where they would be out of the cover of the canopy of trees; which would be suicide.
They could see now, the group of men that stood outside the burning village, ignoring the cries and screams. Instead, they had their attention turned to their captives.
The Fire Nation rebels knelt with their hands raised behind their heads in capture, each bearing metal chains that were barely light enough to hold up. They would never be able to bend.
Sokka spotted Sashu first. He was arguing with Hanu, who was thrusting his finger towards the captives accusingly; obviously wishing nothing more then to end their lives right then and there.
Sashu was shaking his head and rubbing his temples. Sokka had seen that move too many times before. Sashu acted as if he had a head ache, caused his arguer to hold back a second, then thought up a good enough excuse to throw out.
But this time Sashu didn't throw out an objection, he instead began to walk away, waving off Hanu's angry shouts.
Hanu turned around drawing an arrow and aiming at one of the prisoners.
"When I get down there, can you cover me if I need it?" Sokka questioned quickly, turning to Aang. "Because if you can't-"
"I've got your back," the Avatar reassured, a smile playing across his face. It was there that Sokka saw the man that had moved into this boy. That was now taking over in a serious situation as such, and would do as much as possible to see him safely down there.
"Then wait until I need it okay?"
Without thinking more about it; he threw himself out of the brush, sprinting down the hill with sword drawn.
He was nearly at the bottom of the hill, leaping over tufts of grass that grew as high as his knees and dodging rocks. Hanu had spotted him now and brought his arrow up, aiming at him; which was what Sokka wanted.
The arrow shot through the air, aiming strait at his heart he supposed, since Hanu was know for such work.
Sokka threw himself to the side, dodging the deadly weapon. He could feel the sharp edge sliding past his cheek, nearly nicking his ear. He could feel the hair that was sliced off.
He let out an angry war cry, jumped over a lump of earth and nearly tripping. He staggered down the rest of the hill.
With a huge leap, he jumped over the prisoners, who'd ducked low to the ground.
His sword came down upon Hanu, nearly slicing him through. But the younger man was a bit quicker, drawing his arrow and sliding to the left, aiming at his face.
Sokka swung his sword back around, cutting of the arrow's front end before it could fly.
Hanu glared at him, reaching back to draw out another one. He stopped though; then lowered his arm as the cold black sword pressed threateningly against his neck. He gulped, blood trickling down his sweat covered neck.
Sokka had only a little chance to glance around. He was just in time to see the sword that was falling upon him, about to end his life. He closed his eyes for the briefest second, waiting. But when nothing happened, he opened them again.
The man, his own man, whom had attempted to defeat him, was hurtled backwards, sword flying through the air, far away from his reach.
Sokka glanced over his shoulder, watching as Aang ran down the hill, taking huge airbending leaps.
He noticed not all of his men were here, most were probably in the village, bringing havoc onto the villagers who screamed so terribly.
His other men didn't attack him though; instead they went for Aang, who apparently seemed more dangerous.
"I ought to kill you, you traitor!" Sokka spat, drawing closer to Hanu. His sword pressed harder against him, drawing more blood, but Hanu only flinched.
"Then do it," the man sneered, hands quivering.
Sokka considered it. So what if he killed this man? It would mean saving peoples' lives, not to mention getting rid of him forever, so he could no longer question his leader's authority.
"No," Sokka stared at the hilt of his sword, drawing it away. "I'm not like you. I'm not a murderer." He brought his sword completely down, pushing past the trembling man.
As he made his way to where Aang was fighting at least five Warriors, he could hear the cold laughter of Hanu.
"Not a murderer?" he snarled. Like an animal, Sokka thought as he stood, back turned from him. Like a monster.
"You're more of a murderer then any of us. You killed hundreds of men without hesitation. You enjoyed it just as much or maybe more then me. You're worse then any of us. You're an animal."
Sokka's fingers tightened around his sword and his longing to run the man through was growing stronger. But he kept walking.
"You're and animal Sokka!" he called, not attempting to fire an arrow. "You can't deny it!"
"No," Sokka whispered to himself. "I'm not."
He arrived at Aang's side just in time, for his friend had dropped to one knee after receiving a blow to the back of the head. He cursed, which made Sokka smile; then held his head painfully.
Sokka stood over his crouching form protectively, holdong his sword at hand as his men… or who used to be his men, surrounded them.
"What's your plan now?" Aang asked, blood covering his hands.
"I'm… figuring it out."
Sokka was about to lunge at one of his attackers, but a new voice prevented him from doing so.
"Wait,"
He looked up, staring into the, what used to be kind, eyes of Sashu.
"I expected you sooner," Sashu commented, looking over Aang once before bringing his eyes back to the former leader. Sokka could see the sad, tired look in those eyes and he immediately knew Sashu wasn't as bad as he assumed. He was confused.
"You can't stop us Sokka," he shrugged, a smirk on his lips. "You can try, but you'll fail. You trained us all, what makes you think you can defeat us?"
Sokka's eyes dropped to the ground, studying his feet.
"You're weak," Sashu spat, "You go and kill hundreds of men, then turn around and 'have a change of heart' decided you don't want to do this anymore. But it's apart of you Sokka, you can't get rid of it. You are this kind of man; this kind of monster. Just like the rest of us."
At that; the men shifted uncomfortably, Sokka noticed.
"If we have to suffer this feeling, so do you."
"I'll stop you."
"Will you now?" Sashu demanded. "Didn't you just hear me? You made us into what we are; you gave a part of yourself to all of us. You can't defeat yourself."
"Yes, I can." Sokka's heart was racing. "Or I'll die trying!" he lifted his head, running forward with his sword raised.
In a frozen second in time, he could see the change in Sashu's eyes. The look he gave him, the tiredness that changed to a cold, dead look. It seemed that for an instant; he was no longer human.
The frozen second was gone and Sokka had his sword pressed forward, about to strike his opponent. His ally. His friend. And in that instant, he remembered that this man was indeed his friend, he hesitated. The sword dropped to the ground just as Sashu's ran into him, slicing through his shoulder with a sickening sound.
Sokka's breathing halted for seconds as he fell to his knees, lifting his head to stare into Sashu's eyes. It was then those eyes changed.
Sashu stared down at him with sadness, but it dissolved to anger and Sokka knew; this man was in fact human, but a scared human who was filled with so many different emotions, that they changed without control, taking over him.
"Then die." He withdrew his sword; pushing Sokka back with his foot. He dropped to the ground, blackness clouding around his vision. The last thing he saw; was the face of Aang staring over him. Then everything was gone.
