Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender
Chapter Nine: The Blue Spirit
Ellie laid back onto her bed with a sigh. The sun had just set and she had just finished her training for the day. Who knew that firebending could be so exhausting? Fights weren't, and performing moves she already knew weren't. After a second, Ellie figured it was the stress. The stress to learn new moves. And the desire to punch Iroh's ever-so-calm face in. She didn't know why, but the fact that he kept even tones with her when she failed to perform a move infuriated her. He sounded as if he was talking to a five-year-old. It was probably the combination of the stress of trying to learn new forms plus the restraint from punching something that left her so tired at the end of the day.
After coming to this conclusion, Ellie realized that she was now completely calm and even more tired if possible. So, she rolled over and closed her eyes. A smile flitted across her face as she remembered the anger Zuko had expressed when she had beaten him for the fifth time in a row that day. And with that, she fell into a happy sleep.
OA
"Absolutely not," the shorter man said. "The Yu-Yan archers stay here. Your request had been denied, Commander Zhao."
He was standing next to a taller man that sported sideburns and a wide smirk. They were both wearing fire nation uniforms.
"General Shino," the taller man, Zhao, replied. "Please reconsider. Their precision is legendary. The Yu-Yan can pin a fly to a tree a hundred yards away without killing it. You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards."
"I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers and what I say goes."
"But my search for the Avatar is—"
"Is nothing but a vanity project. We're fighting a real war here, and I need every man I've got, Commander."
"But—"
"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it!"
Zhao growled in aggravation. He didn't like not having his way. Then, there was a caw to his left. He turned and looked out to see a messenger hawk flying towards them. It landed on the general's arm and the shorter man took a scroll of parchment out of the holder on the bird's back. He looked at it, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"News from Fire Lord Ozai?" Zhao asked, spotting the seal. He stepped forward and took the letter from his superior. Then, he quickly read it through. "It appears I have been promoted to admiral. My request is now an order."
The general bowed and left to see to the command.
From above the building behind them, Zuko's eyes narrowed behind his mask in aggravation. He then left to return to his ship.
OA
"We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm. But if we continue heading northeast-" Jee cut off as a shadow fell across the map he and Zuko were leaning over.
They both straightened and turned to see a massive ship float right past the window.
"What do they want?" Zuko asked.
Ellie payed no attention, but watched the game of pai sho that Iroh was playing.
"Perhaps a sporting game of pai sho," the man in question said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Ellie shook her head. She wondered what episode they were on suddenly. The girl knew that they had passed "The Storm", but she had no way of telling if they had reached "The Fortune Teller"yet. That one was one of her favorites. She often wondered this, but as she was traveling with Zuko, she had no way of telling what the Avatar was doing.
A man that had gone across to Zuko's ship entered the room they were all in. Then, he opened a wanted scroll that held a picture of Aang.
"The search for the Avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao," he said.
Iroh moved a piece on his board. "Zhao has been promoted? Good for him!" he exclaimed, not really paying attention to the conversation at all.
Ellie stopped paying attention as well when she remembered that Zhao was promoted for the last time right before he captured Aang. That meant that…
"The Blue Spirit!" she exclaimed, hopping up and down. She was glad that she finally knew what was going on.
Everyone turned and looked at her.
Zuko then turned his head away from the officer.
"I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass."
"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area."
"Off my ship!" Zuko shouted, pointing to the door. The soldiers turned and left.
Iroh, who still wasn't paying attention, said, scooping up pai sho chips, "Excellent! I take the pot!" The helmsman slapped his forehead in exasperation. "But you are all improving! I am certain you will win if we play again."
Zuko turned and looked out the window, his eyes narrowed once again. Ellie stepped forward and stood next to him with a smile.
"Oh, is Mr. Angstypants grumpy?" she teased him.
He let out a half snort half growl, not looking at her.
"I'm going up on deck," he said and he too left.
Ellie's smile fell. Then, she walked over to watch more pai sho.
What seemed like hours later, she and Iroh returned to the main deck to see Zuko practicing his firebending.
"Is everything okay?" Iroh asked. "It has been almost an hour since you've given the men an order."
Zuko stopped and looked down at the ground. "I don't care what they do."
"Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao."
"How, Uncle?" Zuko pleaded, turning to the elderly man. "With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar!" He turned back to face the sea. "My honor. My country. My throne. I'm about to lose them all."
Ellie stepped forward and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder. He turned and looked at her in surprise.
"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "You are too determined to let that happen. Just—play to your strengths. What do you have that Zhao doesn't?"
And with that, she walked below deck, leaving a now confused and hopeful Zuko behind her. Iroh smiled knowingly at his nephew's back before turning and leaving as well.
Zuko leaned on the railing of the ship. What did he have that Zhao didn't? Friends? He cracked a smile before becoming serious again. He did have stealth. If Zhao captured the Avatar, he would know and he would be able to change that. He had been sneaking into the fort after all, spying on the older man. The teen smiled. It looked like things would finally go his way.
When darkness fell, he snuck off the ship wearing only his black training clothes and his dual swords. Then, he climbed in one of his boats and slowly lowered it to the water. As he looked up at the main deck, he caught a glint of pale hair. He knew that it was Ellie's. Who else had hair that unnatural color? Occasionally Zuko wondered where it came from. Ellie herself was an oddity. She seemed to be a blend of the four nations. Only Earth Kingdom citizens had family names, but her eyes were amber like those of Fire Nation royalty. On top of that, her dark skin and high cheekbones looked purely Water Tribe.
The boy shook his head and cleared pushed the thoughts of Ellie away with difficulty. He could not afford to be distracted. When the boat hit the water, he turned it on and steered it towards land. Then, as he climbed onto the beach, he slipped his blue mask on. Zuko walked through the forest until he reached the path. Instead of walking up into the path, he ducked down and hid in the bushes, waiting. Then, five minutes later, a wagon was pulled past him. It was going pretty slow, so as it passed, Zuko rolled out and clung to the underside of the carriage. He rode underneath it until it pulled to a stop.
Light slid under the wagon as a soldier walked up to inspect it.
"All clear," he said, having checked the back. The man then walked to the side of the wagon. Quick as an eelhound, Zuko slid backwards and climbed into the back of the carriage as the man lowered himself to look where the boy had been seconds before. "All clear. Go on in."
Zuko ducked behind some boxes as the truck pulled past the guard. oThey rode past several walls, finally making it into the fort. As the truck stopped, Zuko slipped out and skirted the wall. Then, he made his way inside the main building.
Once inside, it wasn't very hard to locate where the Avatar was held. Most of the forts were made with similar layouts. Being a prince of the Fire Nation, he had been inside several of these forts. That meant that he knew exactly where the Avatar was located. He went through the sewers until he knew he was underneath where he wanted to be. Then, he crawled out of a grate. He walked to the end of the corridor and found a soldier standing guard with his back turned to him. Zuko silently darted forward and knocked the man out. His helmet rolled into the corridor that was parallel to theirs, distracting another guard.
The new man shot a blast of fire at Zuko, but he easily dodged it and swept forward to where he was within an arm's length to the soldier. He unsheathed his swords and hit the man on the head with the butt of one of them, knocking him out as well. Then, he tied them both to the ceiling and hid up there, several feet ahead. Three more guards ran forward, ready for a fight, but drew short when they spotted two men hanging form the ceiling by their wrists. Zuko took them out while they were distracted and dropped to the floor.
The teen silently ran up to a large cell door and wrenched it to the side. Inside was a boy, chained to the wall. His bald head was bowed where Zuko could see his tattooed arrow going down his neck. When the boy realized he was not alone, his head snapped up. Then, Zuko ran forward and sliced through the chains that held the boy with his two swords. The monk covered his face and Zuko quickly cut the cuffs of the chains off of the Avatar's wrists.
OA
Ellie lay in bed after music night ended, thinking. She couldn't fall in love with Zuko! He could find out that she was an Avatar and return home with her in chains. Even if he didn't find out before he was ready, he would still return to the Fire Nation and marry Mai. Who in their right mind would chose Ellie, the strange girl with strange blonde hair, over someone they had grown up with and already loved?
No one. Ellie decided. She groaned and roughly flipped onto her other side. She may as well give up.
OA
When the boy realized he hadn't been sliced to ribbons, he looked up warily.
Zuko walked toward the door.
"Who are you?" the airbender queried. "Are you here to rescue me?"
Reaching the door, Zuko turned and motioned for the boy to follow. Then, he pulled the door open and started off down the hallway.
"I'll take that as a yes." Zuko turned back down the hallway, but paused when he realized that the Avatar wasn't with him. He grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the grate that would take them out of the building. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!"
Zuko led the airbender out of the drain when he saw that the coast was clear. Then, they began climbing up the inner wall of the fort. When they reached about halfway up it, an alarm started blaring. Zuko silently cursed as someone spotted them and cut the rope they were using to scale the wall. Luckily the Avatar cushioned their fall with a pillow of air, but Zuko knew it was no time to celebrate. As soon as he regained his footing, he bolted for the gates.
"Close the gates!" came Zhao's voice from above.
"Stay close to me," the boy said, running ahead towards the soldiers that had now filled out in front of the gates. There was no time to argue and Zuko knew that the Avatar would recognize his voice, so he ran close behind the boy as he halted and blew the soldiers out of their way and headed for the first gate.
Two men ran forward to intercept the teen, but he easily sliced through their spears and pushed them out of his way. Unfortunately, more men swarmed to his side. Soon he was fighting for his life, surrounded by soldiers. Still, he held his own until the Avatar blew the men away with strong gusts of air and propelled Zuko to the top of the wall. Before he could start fighting the soldiers their, the airbender flew over the wall as well and grabbed the prince with his knees. The extra weight pulled the boy down and finally, they fell on top of the second wall with a thud. Zuko and the Avatar fought the men up their.
Then, the boy peered over the railing to see soldiers running up the wall with ladders. He ran in front of the closest one and sent a stream of air down it, causing the men to fly to the ground. He did the same with the one next to it, and then finally to the ladder where Zuko was standing in front of.
"Take this!" he shouted, shoving the two long ladders towards Zuko and the teen caught them. "Jump on my back!"
Zuko did so and the ladder the Avatar was seated on started to lean away from the wall, pushed by the momentum of Zuko's jump. Zuko smiled behind his mask. It was because of Ellie's advice that he now had the Avatar. If she could see him now—he shook his head and the smile disappeared. He couldn't be distracted. As they were getting close to falling off, the Avatar put the next ladder down and they kept moving. As they began to lean forward again, the boy shouted, "Hand me the next one!"
Jolted into action, Zuko did so and then clung to the airbender to keep from falling. Just as they were nearing the final wall, a man darted forward, and set the ladder on fire. The boy jumped and his hands caught the wall, but the added weight of Zuko on the airbender's back pulled them to the ground. Soldiers ran forward to intercept them, but just as they began firebending a great ball at them, Zhao pushed his way through shouting, "Hold your fire! I want the Avatar alive!"
Realizing their way out of this, Zuko crossed his swords under the boy's chin and put just enough pressure on his throat to make his threat clear. No Avatar, or dead Avatar.
"Open the gate," Zhao said, staring at Zuko's mask.
"Admiral!" General Shino hissed. "What are you doing?"
"Let them out! Now!"
The gate began opening and Zuko backed out, keeping his swords at the Avatar's throat. They went back five feet, ten feet. Then, Zuko saw something sail towards him. Realized too late that it was an arrow until struck the side of his mask that hid his scar. Incoherent with pain, Zuko fell back and passed out.
Aang stood froze for a moment before whipping up a cloud of dusk. Then, he reached forward and eased the mask off of his rescuer's face, revealing a familiar scar. Aang backed away in shock when he realized that it was Zuko that had saved him. Then, he began to run down the path. He turned to see the silhouettes of soldiers running towards them. The boy hesitated a moment before running forward, pulling Zuko on his back, and jumping away, using air to make the firebender seem lighter. By the time the dust cleared, they had gone.
OA
When Zuko awoke, sunlight was streaming through the trees over head. He blinked at the sky for a second before slowly lowering his gaze until he saw the Avatar sitting on a branch above.
"You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is?" the boy asked. Zuko blinked slowly and the airbender came into focus. "I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war, I had this friend named Kuzon. Together, we got into so much trouble. He was one of my best friends. And you know? He was Fire Nation. Do you think that if we knew each other back then, that we could've been friends?"
Not knowing what to do, Zuko leapt up and shot a blast of fire at him. Half expecting this, Aang darted away into the trees.
OA
Ellie sat on deck with Iroh. Then they paused their conversation as a boat was pulled into the ship. Zuko walked past without a glance at the two of them.
Not seeming to notice his not wanted to talk to them, Iroh asked, "Where have you been, Zuko? You missed music night!"
"I'm going to bed. No disturbances."
Ellie smiled at Iroh to let him know it was all right and the old man began playing his sunki horn.
OA
Zuko stared at the Fire Nation emblem as he lay in bed. Then, he abruptly turned away and shut his eyes.
So I haven't been updating as much since school started back, but I suppose that's all right. It's more important to get work done than writing sooo...I'm really glad I had this time to update! Now, here we have Ellie trying to impersonate Iroh in cryptic-level wisdom. At least she knows what happens. She is, of course, still adjusting to life as well. Hope you enjoyed! Up next-Bato of the Water Tribe!
~LittleMissMycroft
