Chapter 8- The Attack:
The hut was silent except for the light breathing of the sleeping inhabitants. Takeo extinguished the flame he lit on his hand and took a deep breath gathering his energy before starting to bend lightning from the edge of his fingers. The sound of crackling electricity filled the air of the hut, causing the inhabitants to stir. Takeo looked at the others then pointing his jolting finger towards his brother. As he released the lightning the air in the hut exploded with the sound of thunder.
Aang rolled over hearing the lightning crackling as it was summoned and quickly went through the motions that Zuko had taught him before Sozin's Comet had arrived and shot the lightning past the intruder and out of the the hut into the sky. He had not been asleep when the man came in, it was his night to keep guard. Takeo quickly stepped away from the lightning and looked at his brother angrily. Aang took a deep breath shaking off the sudden feeling of tiredness and stood up looking at the intruder. Takeo looked right back at him, taking in the sight of his brother after 108 years.
"Hello brother." He smirked, sending a burst of fire at him. Aang quickly took the defensive, melting ice from the walls of the hut and smothering the fire with it, causing steam to expand throughout the darkness. The loud hissing noise produced caused the other three inhabitants of the hut to awaken. Katara quickly noticed the extra body present and moved over to Toph in an attempt to protect her. Aang made a cyclone that swirled sideways, throwing the intruder from the hut. Takeo landed at the edge of the spirit pool, fire erupting from his nostrils. Aang appeared from the dark rectangle cut from the wall of the oasis to be knocked from his feet by a blast of freezing water.
"This is the night the Avatar dies." Takeo laughed. Aang got to his feet and took a fighting stance, getting a glimpse of Takeo in the moonlight. Underneath the unkempt hair, the outline of Takeo's blood-red tattoos was visible, confusing Aang. Another airbender? How could that be possible? The man called him brother, but that could not be possible. How could it?
Before Aang could come up with a guess as to the man's identity, he felt earth creep around his knees and wrists, throwing him onto his back. Takeo walked over starting lightning on his fingertips, hovering over the Avatar. Aang went to send fire from his mouth but before he could Takeo was thrown away by a wave of water.
"Get away from him!" Katara shouted sending ice spikes at the intruder, allowing Aang to free himself from the earth binding him to the ground. As the fighting continued outside between the two airbenders Katara went over to Toph and Rien. "Is that him Toph?" She asked. Toph took a small breath and moved a hand from the furs to the earth and nodded shrinking back towards the back to the room. Rien was shaking with fright, clinging to Toph with a death grip.
"He 'ound us mama..." He whispered. Katara went over to her bag and pulled out a small object going over to the two.
"Rien," She said kneeling down next to Toph holding out the bison whistle. "I want you to hold onto this. If mommy tells you to, you blow it as loud as you can. Okay?" She explained. Rien peeked out from behind Toph's shirt and slowly reached out taking the bison whistle from her hand looking at it then nods slightly hiding back into her shirt. Toph held him close turning her head towards Katara.
"Only tell him to blow it if something happens to me or Aang. Then get on Appa and get out of here. Anywhere." Katara said putting a hand on Toph's shoulder then got up going out of the hut. Seeing Katara Takeo quickly turned the full force of his attention to her.
"If it isn't Mrs. Avatar. Love's overrated." He smirked then sent lightning at her.
"NO!" Aang shouted then bent an earth wall in front of Katara as she built a blockade of ice. With an ear shattering crash the earth exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Katara, protected by her ice blockade took advantage of Takeo blocking the rock by melting the ice and sending a thick stream of water straight at Takeo's chest.
Takeo took the full force of the attack flying back into the wall. Once he regained the strength to stand up he growled expelling fire from his nostrils. "You will pay for that peasant." He said then bent up rocks from the ground and threw them at Katara while surrounding them with fire. Aang stepped in front of Katara using a strong blast of air to throw Takeo's attack right back at him.
"You leave my wife alone!" He shouted then surrounded Takeo's body with earth. Takeo merely laughed throwing his head back to bend the earth away from his body.
"Trapping me will not be that easy brother." He sneered then bent water from the spirit pool streaming it at Aang's head, spinning the tip fast enough to drill right through when his hand was stopped, making him drop the water inches in front of Aang's face. He looked back to see a water whip surrounding his wrist coming from one of the pools surrounding the oasis.
"Neither will killing him Takeo!" Katara said then picked him up by the wrist and throwing him down on the ground growing ice around his body from the damp grass. "Now, you will answer for your crimes."
"What crimes? I've done nothing wrong" He said melting the ice standing up, steam rising from his clothes into the cold air.
"Lets start with rape, spousal and child abuse." Katara snapped. "And don't say it didn't happen because there are two people who can easily prove otherwise." She added then froze him again, making the ice thicker as Aang moved the earth beneath him to force him down to lie down on the grass as earth crawled up around his neck and arms.
"Those are not any of your concern Katara. What I've done with Toph is between me and her." He smirked.
"It IS my concern that you are torturing my best friend and her son, mind you a son that she shouldn't have at her age!" She said bending a knife out of ice going over by him. Kneeling down she moved her hand over his chest bending the ice away so that there was nothing between her and his skin.
Just as she raised the knife steam began to rise from the rest of Takeo's body as his body temperature rose in order to flash boil the ice immobilizing him. With one moment he slammed his foot down on the ground once it was freed and crumbled the earth restraining his neck and arms.
A yell pierced the cold air as Takeo rolled to the side, Katara's knife digging deep into his side. She missed his heart as he moved but the knife still managed to wound its target. Closing his eyes in pain he grabbed the knife with one hand keeping it frozen in his warm body while with his other he shot a jet of fire at Katara.
In the second she used to jump away from the fire Takeo quickly rolled to the side a few feet slipping into the spirit pool, staining the crisp blue water with a small stain of red. Aang quickly went to the edge of the pond looking inside the shallow pool, but the only thing visible in the clear water were the fish.
"He's not in there... He disappeared." Aang said looking at Katara. Katara took a deep breath looking towards the entrance to the hut then at Aang.
"Your not hurt are you?" She asked him. Aang shook his head looking at the few burn holes in his clothes. "A couple of burns but no real injuries." He answered then took a deep breath. "How are we going to tell Toph he got away?"
"We're just going to have to come out and tell her." Katara said then went into the hut looking at Toph and Rien. Toph looked towards them holding Rien, who had fallen fast asleep during the battle.
"Is he gone? Dead preferably?" She asked quietly, biting her lip. Katara went over to her shaking her head sadly.
"He's gone, but he's not dead. He got away... But if we ever see him again. He will not get the chance."
