I'm just gonna throw this out here. Please, no spoilers for the leaked episodes within the reviews. I've managed to resist temptation thus far and I don't plan on changing that, so please don't tell me what happens. I'm waiting.
And um... this chapter seemed a little short to me for some reason. I don't know, maybe it's my imagination. But it was all I could fit without getting into the next part, which is huge and would have made this chapter like 8 billion pages.
PS. What's with the italics not working in the document manager? Irritating.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar
CHAPTER 9
Aang and Katara had never seen a pirate battle before. Aang had often wondered what it would be like to be a pirate when he was young. He had played pirate games with some of the other young airbenders at the temple. The games were played in secret, of course, as pirates were about as far from monks as they could get.
So far, the life of a pirate was both as fun as he thought it would be, and much harder than he thought it would be. But this battle was like nothing he had ever seen.
These pirates had no mercy. They crossed the stretch of ocean between the ships on boards and ropes and sprang immediately into action. Weapons clashed, bending met bending, and everyone was aiming to kill.
"I don't understand," Aang said in shock as he and Katara watched the battle, trying to keep at a distance while they judged their situation. "I thought this crew didn't kill unless they had to."
"That's just with civilians, I guess," Katara replied in hushed tones, gasping when she caught sight of Keely running a man through with both of her swords and moving on, remorseless.
"I think we might be in over our heads," Aang said darkly, his eyes falling upon the thirteen-year-old girl they had befriended fighting with a long knife in each fist, stabbing a man in the shoulder and shoving him overboard. "Wait… where's the Demon?"
The two of them looked around. There, surrounded by a mob of pirates from the other ship, was the Demon, whirling her staff around and delivering more than one blow to the head. Aang and Katara both jumped slightly when she pulled the staff in two, revealing the staff to actually be two long swords. The blades cut through the air fast as lightning, and four men fell at her feet in seconds.
Deadlier than an arrow to your head.
"We've befriended these people," Katara whispered. "And they're all…"
"Murderers," Aang finished for her.
"What do we do?" Katara asked grimly. "Helping them would just be aiding murder, and we can't do that. You're the Avatar, and I'm your… partner."
Aang glanced at her. She was blushing. He almost smiled, but this wasn't the time or the place. A bolt from a crossbow sunk into a pirate just a few yards away from them and he staggered, falling overboard. Aang spotted Robin on the other ship, dodging between blows and killing people so fast, they didn't even realize they were dead until they hit the deck. Aang began to feel sick.
But Katara was beginning to see the other side of it. The thirteen-year-old with the knives had been hit, a blade cut savagely across her back. She was crouched near the mast, teeth gritted and fists clenched, unable to stand. Her two friends, the brothers who weren't much older than her, had formed a protective wall in front of her, killing anyone who got too close. One of the brothers had an arrow protruding from his left arm, which hung limp at his side. Two of the twelve dead bodies Katara counted on the deck of the Shadow belonged to pirates she recognized.
"Aang…" she said quietly, grabbing onto his arm for support. "This is…" She trailed off.
"Like being back at the palace, isn't it?" he asked darkly. Her grip tightened on his arm. She had been thinking the same thing. Seeing all of this death brought them back to the invasion of the Fire Nation capital. People dying left and right, no room for mercy, kill or be killed. They had been haunted by these memories for two years, and they were right back where they started.
"We can't just… stand here…" Katara began uncertainly.
"But we can't do anything," Aang finished for her.
So they stood, side-by-side, Katara's grip on Aang's arm growing painful, and watched in dull horror as the war they thought was over continued before their eyes.
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Keely grunted in pain as she carried Robin across a narrow wooden plank, half-supporting, half-dragging her back to the deck of the Shadow. The battle was over; they were victorious. But, as always, the price had been high. Higher than usual. Four casualties. They hadn't suffered a single casualty in nearly a year.
"Keel… Keely…" Robin muttered incoherently. "My head… hurts…"
Keely closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I know, Robin," she whispered. "We just need to get you back to the ship, and you'll be fine."
"Robin… like ash robins…" Robin murmured, eyes closing.
"Stay awake Robin," Keely said sharply, finally reaching the deck. This was what Keely hated about piracy. After the battles, she saw her family at its worst.
Dodger was still on the other ship, clumsily healing any of his injured crew mates he could find. Every single pirate from the other ship was dead. Not one had surrendered.
The Demon looked as though she hadn't been touched. She wasn't a healer, so she dealt with the bodies all over her ship. The four that belonged to her crew were laid neatly side-by-side in the bow and covered with a blanket. The bodies of the opposing crew were tossed overboard for the sharkwhales and dolphinsharks.
Katara was quietly healing any living pirate she came across, trying to ignore the fact that the deck was soaked with the blood of both sides. Aang wasn't sure what to do, so he started helping injured pirates cross back to the Shadow.
The work was quiet. The pirates who were in better shape and weren't healers were given the task of combing through the other ship's cargo, taking what they could.
Keely collapsed against the door of the captain's cabin, eyes drifting over the deck and taking it all in as emotionlessly as she could. She sat Robin up next to her and took a moment to breathe and assess her own injuries.
Cut across the arm from a waterbender. Cut across the shoulder from a sword. Two… maybe three broken ribs from a Water Tribe club. Deep gash running across both shins from another sword, this one with a very thick blade. She closed her eyes tightly, blocking out the pain, ignoring the blood running down her limbs.
She glanced at Robin. She had suffered a powerful blow to the head by the same club that got Keely in the ribs. Keely remembered killing that man with firebending because her swords had fallen from her hands when she felt her ribs break. Other than the lump on the back of her head, Robin looked unscathed. Until Keely noticed the burns on her right forearm. Keely closed her eyes again.
"Katara," she called, hating how weak her voice sounded.
Katara was kneeling before her moments later, as was Aang.
"Heal her, please," Keely said through gritted teeth, jerking her head toward Robin. Katara nodded and wordlessly set to work. She could feel Aang's eyes on her. "What?"
"You don't seem like murderers," Aang said bluntly. "Until today, you seemed like normal kids. Just like me and Katara."
"We're not bad people, Aang," Keely said firmly, staring determinedly skyward. "People see pirates as murderers and thieves, but that's not what we're about. We are about freedom. Look around you, Aang."
Aang glanced behind him at the devastation on deck.
"There are people down there from all three nations," Keely continued, her voice shaking slightly as a fresh wave of pain made itself known. "We don't see race or nationality or ethnicity when we look at people. When I look at you and Katara, I don't see an airbender and a waterbender. I see a boy and a girl."
Aang looked at her. She looked right back, defiantly holding his gaze.
"We're free from distinctions like that," she said. "We're free from the prejudice of boundaries and borders on land. Our only boundary is the horizon. We do what is necessary to hold onto freedom like that. All of the pirates we killed paid the price for their freedom, and we've paid the price for ours."
Katara was staring at her now too. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth again until the pain subsided.
"We are not bad people," she repeated slowly. "We are free, and we are willing to sacrifice everything for it."
"Bad people…" Robin muttered as Katara finished healing her and laid her back gently on the deck so she could sleep.
Katara looked up at Keely. Some kind of understanding must have passed between the two of them, because she simply said, "Come on, your turn." Keely didn't protest. She leaned her head back against the door and waited for Katara to finish.
Aang sat back on his heels, absently watching Katara work. Keely justified taking lives by saying it was for freedom. Had that not been his excuse when he killed the Fire Lord? To free the rest of the world from the Fire Nation?
Suddenly, all of Aang's preconceived notions of good and bad people didn't make sense anymore.
And judging by the long glance he shared with Katara, she was having the same problem.
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Robin sighed and opened her eyes. She didn't know where she was or how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was Keely getting hit hard in the ribs by a burly pirate with a club. Wherever she was now, however, wasn't so bad. She was warm and comfortable. Her head hurt terribly, but that didn't seem like too much of a problem.
She started to get her bearings. She was below deck in her hammock. But she wasn't alone.
"Dodger…" she sighed. He was holding onto her rather uncomfortably tightly, her back flush against his chest.
Robin jumped. Keely was suddenly crouching beside her hammock.
"Feeling better?" Keely whispered.
Robin wasn't sure how to respond.
"You got hit in the head, knocked you out cold. Katara healed you but you've been asleep for almost a day."
"How long has he been here?"
"A few hours. He's been healing people."
"What uh… should I do?"
Keely laughed lightly. "I have no experience in these matters, Robin," she whispered. "This is all you. Good luck though."
Keely strode away before Robin could get mad at her. Robin sighed again. She decided to remain still and let him sleep. She hesitantly rested a hand on his, which were crossed on her stomach.
After a few silent moments, she glanced up at the hammock next to hers. The young Avatar was sleeping soundly, turned on his side facing her. He had a rather sour look on his face. He was having a bad dream.
Robin heard footsteps coming down the stairs from the deck. She closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep, but left them open just enough to see. Katara sat down on her own hammock on the other side of Aang's. She was looking at the Avatar with a tired expression.
"Aang? You awake?" she whispered. Robin saw the slightest change in Aang's expression when Katara's voice reached him. He relaxed, if only for a moment. She heard Katara sigh and get to her feet. She thought she was leaving, but to her surprise, Katara was crouched beside her hammock moments later. Unlike Keely, however, she was facing Aang, not Robin.
Robin watched curiously as Katara reached forward, running a hand through Aang's short bristly hair. The look on his face dissolved instantly into a smile. He opened his eyes and Katara smiled back.
"Hey," Katara whispered.
"Now I remember why I liked having hair," Aang yawned. Katara laughed. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"About eight hours," Katara replied gently.
"Why are you still awake, then?" he asked, sounding as though he was chastising her as he sat up.
"I've been healing people," she said, shrugging.
Aang got to his feet and lifted her off the ground, eliciting nothing more than a gasp of surprise from her. He dropped her into her hammock.
"Hey, that was totally uncalled for," she protested, trying to sit up. He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down.
"Sleep, Katara," he said, sounding both serious and amused. "Please?"
She tried not to smile, but she couldn't stop herself.
"Fine," she sighed.
"Thank you," Aang replied. He pointed to his eyes, then to her. "I'm watching you." She rolled her eyes. He laughed as he walked up the stairs.
Robin smiled a little, hearing Katara sigh again. Dodger had mentioned something about him and Aang being kindred spirits. Now she understood why.
