I'll Get You to Safety
Chapter Ten
{Quick Warning: This chapter has language}
~X~X~X~
Takeo knew something was wrong the minute Lee returned. "How was your scouting mission? Did you locate Zuko and the Bei Fong girl?" Jiang asked. The smirk on Lee's face told Takeo everything.
"Better," he laughed, "I killed that little girl myself."
"What!" Chiyo shrieked. "You killed her?"
"That was our mission wasn't it?"
"You IDIOT! Now Zuko knows we're here! Not only have you screwed our entirely plan but you didn't even talk to us. You didn't even inform us! We're a team Lee, damn it, you're not all alone! Whether you like it or not you're a Radical!" Chiyo yelled.
"Oh? So I'm supposed to take orders from him?" Lee asked, pointing to Takeo. "I still don't know why Boss assigned you as the head of this mission! You have no guts! You're useless!"
"Lee, calm down," Jiang said, trying to stop him.
"No," Lee argued. He pulled out the same dagger he used to stab Toph and pointed it at Takeo. "You're not in control of me! I only follow orders from the ones with balls! Fight me Takeo, fight me and prove to me you're worth listening to!"
"Knock it off Lee!" Chiyo yelled.
"You're always so quick to take his side, aren't you Chiyo?" His dagger now pointed at the female of the group. "Funny how you're supposed to be the smartest but you're the brainless."
"That's enough, Lee." For the first time Takeo spoke. "I will not fight you. You're going to leave this city, you're off the mission."
Mocking laughter. "And you're going to make me?"
"Only if I have to."
"Well then Takeo, come on and fight me." Lee grinned as he charged straight at the young man, his blade pointed at his throat!
"No!" Chiyo screamed.
In one swift movement Takeo dodged to the side, his hands aflame, and sent a rage of fiery fury straight into Lee's back! The assassin slammed into the ground, his whole backside red and burned. He turned over and tried to stab Takeo again, but by that time Takeo had his own secret sword in his hand. One quick swipe and Lee's hand was cut clean off.
"You fucker!" Lee howled. His blood spewed out of his chopped wrist as his severed hand fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Lee's screams filled the air and Takeo took a fistful of his hair and with one arm lifted the bloody man to his eye level.
The look in Takeo's eyes made Lee stop screaming in sheer terror. "Leave now. Or I'll cut off your whole fucking arm."
That was all Takeo had to say, and Lee was running off towards the wall of the city, a trail of blood following him. Chiyo and Jiang stood there helpless. Never in her life had Chiyo seen Takeo do such a heartless task. Yes, Lee deserved it, but… he cut his hand off.
The three watched as the assassin ran and as he started to climb over the mysterious wall. Higher and higher. He was at the top. Then, as Lee prepared to jump off the wall—as he prepared to leave the city— he fell to his knees and screamed. Before the three's eyes Lee's skin burned off, the life in him was drained away, his bones shriveled, and all the blood in his body spewed out of him. He would've fallen down dead if there was anything left in his body to fall. He died in a matter of seconds.
~X~X~X~
The small earth bender had just about used every curse word known to man, even going as far as combining ones that most don't combine. Toph was pissed. Royally. Not only was she too weak to fight, (and even she had to admit that) but Zuko had gone off to find Takeo and his crew by himself. He went by himself. She screamed and demanded he let her go with him, even getting frustrated enough to throw large rocks at him.
So why was Toph still 'safe' inside an abandoned house? Akemi and Feng were babysitting her. Yeah, only ghosts can babysit someone as wrathful as Toph Bei Fong because she can't kill them, they're already dead. Every time she tried to escape Feng the ghost would send her back, and every time she punched or threw rocks Akemi would go intangible.
"You guys can't keep me prisoner!" Toph screamed. She angrily kicked the wall of the room, making a huge chunk fly off.
"Miss Toph please calm down! We're doing this to keep you safe! Zuko wants you to be safe."
Another loud tantrum slam. "I'm not worth saving!" Toph yelled. "I'm already fucked, don't you understand? I'm already a fucking goner!" She slumped down to the floor and leaned against the wall, still banging her fist against the hard surface. "I'm already fucked," she groaned.
"Toph, what happened?" Feng asked. "Why are you talking like that?"
"That curse the Fire General put on this city years ago? Yeah, well, it wasn't just meant for you dead ones. It works on the living too."
"No! Don't tell me you're cursed like us!" Akemi shrieked. "Miss Toph, how?"
"Because when Sparky and I first got here there were no openings or gates. I put my hand on the wall and it cut me, my blood got on the wall, and it opened. My blood, my own fucking blood, it sealed me in this place. If I leave I die." Feng and Akemi remained silent. Toph's eyes were shut, she didn't want to see the two dead children. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. Her wall was breaking. "Please…" she whispered. "Zuko is everything to me. I can't stand the thought of him dying. I know I have to die… but I'll die for Zuko."
She realized something she should have a long time ago. I love him.
"Toph…" Feng trailed off. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Your apologies mean nothing to me. I don't want sympathy I want your help."
"Miss Toph," Akemi began. "There was another ability that ghosts can do. It was something we never told you about, or I didn't at least, just because I've never tried it."
"What?"
"As ghosts we can… animate you… as if you were our puppet. We'd be in your body. You would still be in control, you'd still be able to earth bend and move."
"Then what's the point?"
"Miss Toph if I go into you… you'd be able to see from my sight. You wouldn't be blind."
There was a long moment of silence. She had been blind her own life. She spent sixteen years proving she didn't need sight and she did a damn good job proving it. But now… now… she was presented with the opportunity to see, to see something other than her world of black? "This better not hurt," Toph growled. "So hurry up."
"We really do need to hurry," Feng agreed. "Remember when we warned you what danger can come out at night?"
When it's nighttime the streets outside become dangerous. Spirits like me roam around, except some of them aren't very friendly. They're angry spirits and they're mean. The reason I found you guys was because I could sense your presence. Other ghosts will sense it too. And they'll attack you, just like I did.
Flashbacks of when Feng and Akemi warned Toph flashed through the earth bender's mind. She knew it had to be almost sunset. "We need to hurry!"
~X~X~X~
Chiyo hadn't peeled her eyes from Takeo. He stood there at his full height, breathing heavily, hands clenched into fists. "Love…" she trailed off. Carefully she walked passed dangerous lines and put a hand on his shoulder. "Takeo."
He turned his head to hers. For a moment she thought he'd lean in and capture her lips with his. But instead his hands went on her shoulders—his grip so tight—and SHOVE!
Suddenly she found herself flying onto the ground and a torrent of orange flame shooting towards them! "How dare you!" came an enraged shout. Her eyes flitted up and her jaw dropped when she saw the Firelord himself standing a few yards away in a fighting stance. Her head immediately whipped to Takeo, and she saw he wasn't burned that badly.
"My Lord, you must listen to me, I didn't—"
"Don't you fucking dare call me 'lord'! I trusted you Takeo! You were my friend! And this whole time you've been backstabbing me, you've betrayed me!" Zuko yelled. His amber eyes had no mercy. "It's because of you I almost lost someone who's so important you can't even imagine."
Bei Fong isn't dead? Chiyo thought. "Listen Zuko, Takeo didn't attack Bei Fong, it was our teammate who went out of—"
"I don't care who attacked her. You all want me dead, don't you?" Zuko interrupted. He pointed to Takeo. "We're all fire benders, aren't we? Radical or not we're bound by our roots of the Fire Nation tradition. Well, I'm the Firelord, and I challenge you to an Agni Kai. To the death!"
"No!" Chiyo screamed. She turned to Takeo, "Please, don't do this!"
"Takeo, it's three on one, we can take him!" Jiang exclaimed.
"No." The force in the young man's voice was law. "I fight Firelord Zuko myself. I don't care if I'm a Radical or not, I will fight with my honor. I may have not lived with it, but I will die with it. You two will not interfere." Before stepping towards Zuko, Takeo looked at Chiyo for what could be the final time. "We both know why we joined the Radicals. We joined because Boss captured and threatened to kill our daughter if we didn't. But if I die Chiyo, don't be afraid. You're not a murderer. Don't deceive yourself and tell yourself you are."
Although Takeo just admitted he joined the evil group because of his daughter's safety, Zuko still felt the rage from them almost killing Toph.
The two stood a few feet away from each other, each with their hands up in guard, eyes focused on the other. Zuko made the first move. He lashed out with a left punch and as Takeo shifted right Zuko's right hand blew out fire! Takeo dodged the flame attack and shot his own round of fire towards the prince. It was like the two were dancing, one would move left, one would move right, but with each step red and orange flames would ignite between them.
Chiyo couldn't bear to see this. The whole time she told herself she wanted the Firelord dead, she wanted things back to the way they used to be, when the Fire Nation was the prestigious nation. She was lying to herself. She never wanted any of this. Their Boss kidnapped her daughter, told her if her and Takeo didn't serve him in the Radicals that her little girl would die. She never wanted a life of killing. A life of assassination. She just…
Takeo fell to the ground face first with a huge burn mark on his back!
Zuko stood over him. The goal in the Agni Kai was to knock the opponent off-balance and incapacitate them with a final blow. This duel was to the death. The final blow would be fatal. The preferred finishing move is generally a direct fire blast to the face.
Takeo turned over stomach up, and Zuko lifted his arm for a final blow.
"Zuko!"
Chiyo's head snapped and she saw the little Bei Fong girl running towards them. This sudden distraction gave Takeo enough time to get to his feet. Thank spirits.
~X~X~X~
This new vision was overwhelming! It was incredible! It was also passing by in a fast blur, because Toph was earth bending her way to Zuko as fast as she could. Akemi had animated her, although Toph was still in control of her body, the only thing Akemi allowed her was sight (and Toph could hear the little girl's thoughts inside her head). Feng trailed close behind them.
And then she saw him. She knew it was him. He was the most wonderful thing she ever hoped to have seen in her life. His eyes, such furious passion inside those amber orbs, the strength of his body, and the scar… the scar was what made him Zuko. His scar made him even more handsome to her. It then hit her he was in a fight. No… not a fight, if it truly was a fight the girl and the other guy would fight him as well. He was just fighting one.
He's in an Agni Kai, Toph realized. "Zuko!" she exclaimed. His head snapped up and he saw her, his face immediately going into anger and shock. The momentary emotion splayed across his face vanished when he once again locked in combat with the other man. "You've got to stop Sparky, it's going to be dark soon."
"Get back Toph. Leave!" Zuko hissed. He nearly dodged a punch from his opponent.
She growled. "Just pick back up this stupid fight in the morning! Zuko, it's dangerous to be out at night." Not that it mattered much now, the skies were already dark and the moon was starting to shine down onto them. The Firelord ignored the Blind Bandit.
And then, as if fate knew it had bad timing, the ground started to shake vigorously. Everyone wobbled unsteadily but Toph, and with a firm stomp she bended the ground under Zuko to make him stand next to her. Before he could yell at her a black smoke began to rise and out from the smoke came a huge deformed monster. It was at least the size of a Fire Nation blimp, it's body materialized with the black smoke but somehow solid, and beady red eyes staring at them.
"Don't tell me, those are the big bad meanie spirits you were warning us about?" Toph asked.
"Yeah," Feng nodded. "Unfortunately."
Author's Note:
Whoot! This chapter is hot off the grill. Wow. So if there are any grammatical errors or it seems rushed, I'm sorry. I'm just excited to get this published, you know? You don't know? You do know? You don't know if you know?
LOL! Okay, so thank you to my reviewers Lightning the Raptor, Justadreamer15, akaypapillion, BitterChant, and dasserk. All of your review was so kind and inspiring. And I don't know how soon until this is over. Maybe 3-4 chapters, but I do recall in chapter one saying this was supposed to be a 5-6 chapter story. And that didn't happen, did it? ;D So who knows. The point is, I'm bound and determined to finish it, and when I do I will jump up and down victoriously and buy myself a frosty from Wendy's.
Anyway, please review and thank you SO much for reading!
~Luna
P.S. I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter ten of another story, so I'm really sorry for that! Thank you ihateyou but iloveyou and Lightning the Raptor for pointing that out! How embarrassing! And I'm sorry for your disappointment! Gaaaah _