Disclaimer: I don't own anything out of this.
From the minds of Myevltwin and TheHumanWiki
Chapter 10
Naruto stared down at the teens from his perch. He was scouting them out at the moment. Watching them. Waiting for something bad to happen that would require his immediate intervention. Of course watching the teens was the least of his worries at the moment. Rai's little stunt a week back had caused all of the teens to become edgy at night and while they trained. Aang made sure to always be in an area where he thought it would be difficult to watch him. How very wrong he was.
"What are they doing?" Lyra asked suddenly.
"What?" Naruto turned to face her, his eyes blinking in the process.
"I asked what they were doing."
Naruto sighed audibly and glared at her. "God damn it! I am getting so sick of answering that stupid question now!"
"You have better eyes than me! I can't see shit from up here! I'm not going to play with my pussy all day long!" She snapped back.
The blond glowered at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the teens. They were about a quarter of a mile away and watching them train in the vast desert lands. At the moment though, Aang seemed more interested in playing his flute than anything else. Sokka was yapping about something while Toph and Katara seemed pleased with his unhappy state. "They're just talking." Naruto answered after a brief moment of hesitation.
Lyra sighed. "What are they talking about?"
The former Jinchuuriki banged his head on the ground. "If this is your idea on how to replace Zentrai's way of acting, you're doing it wrong. He doesn't ask stupid questions. He asks utterly dumb questions and argues about what I say someone is doing. You need to get some new stuff, Lyra." Rai purred in agreement while the Earthbender contemplated on hurting the blond. After a brief moment of quite, Naruto suddenly said, "And I'd be dodging knives by now. If you wanna hurt me next time. Go right on ahead. I heal quickly, remember?"
She growled and stormed off, leaving the blond chuckling.
"One point to me," he called out to her retreating form. She stopped for a moment and then stomped her foot on the ground. Naruto was struck in the chest by a small piece of earth. Instead of curling into a ball in pain, he laughed and rolled over holding his gut. He just kept laughing and Lyra just kept walking. Naruto watched her go with a smile and turned his gaze back to the Avatar's group.
(-)
Lyra moved straight back to their campsite. She wasn't angry with Naruto. Annoyed maybe. But not angry. She could never be angry with him unless he truly did something stupid. She approached the campsite and then stared off into the distance. She smiled and snapped her foot into the ground. Dust flew in a straight line and a boulder cracked. "If you're going to sneak up on me, Zentrai, please do it without alerting me."
A moment later, Zentrai and Den appeared with a girl in between them. Lyra recognized the girl as one of the Water Tribe female warriors that lived in the village. She was also a member of the torture and information squads back at the village. She wore the official kimono styled clothing of the Water Tribe people, but trimmed it down for the spring weather they were going through. She kept her hair short and just below the base of her neck. Around her waist were evil looking knives and pouches. The pouches scared people more because of the tools she kept inside them. Thin needles and other objects of her carrier lay inside them.
"Good to see you, too? Don't even bother with a friendly hello I see. And here I thought you missed me," Zentrai sent to her. She smiled innocently and looked to the others. The mute gave a nod to Den and the girl.
Den stepped forward with a piece of paper in him. "I'm not a delivery boy," he snapped while handing it to her. She rolled her eyes and took the parchment from him. As she read it, he explained things. "Len and I managed to get some new people to interrogate. Turns out they knew a little more than what we hoped for. The Fire Nation is building something near the walls of Ba Sing Se… And it's almost complete."
"And you want us to go and wreck it?"
Len stepped forward with a clear look of annoyance on her face. "No," she said with a rough voice. "We sent a word of warning to General Sung to let him know about it. When we asked him if he wanted out help, he happily turned us down." She forced a smile.
"And you couldn't get in touch with anyone else because…" She waved her hand around slightly.
Den took a deep breath before answering. "The will of the Earth Kingdom cannot be brought down by the evil of the Fire Nation. We will stand tall and strong. We will defeat whatever they have to throw at us. No one has broken through our walls before and never will," he explained as though he were reading from a book of some kind.
Lyra got the message. The General didn't believe this was a threat and wanted to deal with it on his own. Noble but stupid.
"There is some good news to this though." Lyra arched a brow when Len said that. "Two high value targets are currently on the thing. One of them is the famed General Han and the other is Azula herself. From what we can gather, her father is very unhappy with how things worked out between Naruto and the Fire Nation, and is forcing her to capture him without bringing harm to him. We think he wants her dead."
"If that's the case, Naruto would just anger him and never kill her then," Zentrai informed them. They all nodded. "As for me… I'd capture her and hand her over to you two. We would never get a ransom out of her, that much is certain. But a wealth of knowledge and then a sex slave would be overwhelming for us."
Len dismissed the last part but said, "The wealth of knowledge she has would be nice. I'm sure you would finally get to find out who your father is, Den, if we captured him."
Den shrugged that off. True he was of Fire Nation blood, but only through the act of his mother. His mother was a spy that had to get information from a Commanding Officer on the field and she was ordered to do it by any means necessary. She practically threw herself at him just to get information from him. In the end she got what she needed and left, only to have him nine months later. He looked more like a citizen of the Earth Kingdom than the Fire Nation, but there was no mistaking the golden eyes that marked all Fire Nation people.
"Like I'd care," he snapped. Lyra shrugged his heated tone off and placed her hand on her hip. Den cracked his neck and started fiddling with one of his hooked daggers. "We did what were ordered to do. Hand over the Intel we got and drop Zentrai off to you guys. He's trained the girls as best he claims he can, and Rehka sent him back out into the field. You orders are to protect the Avatar at all costs. Nothing but his life matters… Or so I've been told."
Lyra gave a curt nod as the two torture members began trotting away. Zentrai turned and faced them with a smile. "She'll put out for you tonight if you promise to lick her!" Den waved at him without going rigid. Len on the other hand did and spared a harsh glance for Zentrai. The mute laughed as they slipped out of eyesight and turned back to face Lyra. "So how have things been without me?"
"Horrible. Naruto's watching the Avatar's group right now and our first meeting didn't go too well since Rai decided he wanted the Bison for dinner." The mute winced to this while Shibaru trotted to find Rai. Lyra continued though. "Things have been going smoothly if you don't count that though. No one has tried to take out the Avatar since they got to this area and he's been training nonstop. If he's done anything other than train, it was his attempt at locating us just to see what we wanted. That's about it."
Zentrai nodded and then turned his focus to the rim of the forest. Without a word spoken or thought, Lyra nodded and led the way to Naruto.
(-)
Naruto watched the teens with hawk-like eyes as they continued to talk amongst themselves. They were clearly arguing about something. I wish Zentrai were here, he thought. Zentrai would have been able to tell him exactly what they were talking about.
Naruto understood enough about his powers to know that even hearing things had to be processed in the brain by thinking. Even if you never thought about it, what was said to you did actually run through your mind. This allowed Zentrai to understand what someone was saying to another person even if they were out of hearing range at the moment. So long as he could make contact with their brain he could actually do this.
But Naruto didn't have Zentrai yet and he was dumbly aware that Zentrai was inbound. Rehka had promised to let him leave after two weeks if he hadn't fully trained her girls. If he did take it seriously, which Naruto figured he would but would still make jokes about, Zentrai would be here within a week and a half, maybe less depending on how hard he pushed them.
With that, Naruto continued to watch the teens as they chatted with one another.
He sighed and sat up while brandishing one of his knives. It was a combat knife, one that was given to him as a gift by the mute. Naruto very seldom used the thing for anything other than to entice fear in those he would have to torture. The thing was very scary looking. It was long, curved, and had a row of razor slits in it that made the blade serrated and gave it the chip form it held. If one looked at it from a different angle it actually looked a bit more like a machete with how thick the blade was and its length.
He put the weapon away and watched the teens slowly start to move out. They packed up their gear and threw it on top of Appa. The massive beast was soon mounted and they flew off into the distance. Naruto stood up and watched them leave before pulling out his bundle of fur he had from Appa during his time tracking them. Let's find Rai, he thought.
Naruto jumped down from the cliff he was on and started moving back into the forest. The sky would do Aang no harm less he did something foolish. So Naruto had no worries about taking things slow. He could work better with that. Give them some space and follow in an hour after lunch. Surely they could get themselves into that much trouble in that short of a time span. Right?
The blond moved towards the campsite and paused for a moment before smiling. Zentrai was back, yet Naruto wasn't at the campsite yet. There were two reasons the former Jinchuuriki knew this. The first was that Zentrai carried an aura with him that was more or less felt like when someone was watching you from the shadows. It was a creepy feeling to have around and one you couldn't shake off. The second reason was because Naruto could feel him probing his mind already for information on where they stood with the Avatar's group.
After years of working with the man, one got used to the feeling of having your mind probed by him. The feeling was strange, small, but there. It was like when you did something that made you relax and feel safe with the world. That was how it felt when he probed your mind. You felt calm, cool, and well relaxed. But the feeling would pass after a split second. It was something he had no control over and anyone that did know he was what he was would misplace it as a simple craving or yearning for something that made them feel that way.
When the teen got to the campsite he was greeted by the sight of Shibaru pawing Rai in the face. It was sort of funny to watch something that looked like a dog pawing something that looked more cat-like than anything else and was extremely hostile when touched by anyone other than those they knew and allowed to touch them. Honestly it looked like a man's version of a slap fight with Rai being the obvious loser in the match.
Off near the campfire where Lyra was cooking was Zentrai. He was pinned to the earth by earth shackles, no doubt created by Lyra and seemed overjoyed at the moment. He even sported a red handprint on his face. Clearly he had done something stupid and got slapped by Lyra, if not someone else.
The blond watched Lyra for a moment as she continued to cook their food. "What'd I miss," he asked with a smile. Lyra shot the teen a warning glare and he smiled. Seeing her angry just confirmed what he thought. Putting his hands into his pockets, he dismissed her hostile look and turned to Zentrai. "The Avatar's group just took off. I'm not sure where they're heading, but they're heading out. We'll give them an hour before we head out. I doubt it will take us that long to catch up with them."
Zentrai nodded from his spot on the ground and said nothing to either of them. Naruto dismissed his silence for his own version of a friendly greeting though. With Zentrai, a friendly hello could be anything from a nod to a full blown tackle glop.
"After we've had lunch we'll head out. While Lyra is cooking, you and I will get our gear loaded up and ready to move," Naruto explained. They all nodded and began doing their chores.
In less than an hour the campsite was brought down. Sleeping bags were stuffed into bags or rolled up for transport. The fire used to warm their meals was put out and buried beneath the earth by Lyra. When it came time to start chasing after the teens, Naruto brought out the bundle of fur for Rai and Shibaru. The two sniffed it and pointed in the same direction. Grabbing their gear and loading it up on Rai, Naruto gave the order to head out.
Lyra ran on the earth, forming to large mounds that helped her run across the burned up earth. Zentrai road on the back of Shibaru while Naruto took point with Rai. In less than two hours they stopped at a small village in the middle of the desert. Naruto had never been here, but Zentrai seemed to know something about the place. It was also really small. So small in fact that Naruto doubted the Fire Nation would want anything to do with the small village.
The village was surrounded by weathered walls that had seen better days probably a hundred years ago. They rose only a few two meters into the air and the gates that were the only way in swung from one hinge while the other door seemed to be only partially intact. The builds looked like they had just been thrown together with no care in the world for them. They sported dents, cracks, and some of them had patchwork done to them that actually needed more patchwork done on them.
The only thing that seemed to be worth anything in the village was a crater in the middle of the village that held a smoldering piece of ice. This is what gave the village its name.
"The Misty Palms Oasis," Lyra grumbled the name of the village and swore in her mind. Zentrai actually laughed. She shot him an annoyed glance. "Of course you'd find this place fun to be. Isn't this one of the areas you basically grew up in?" He smirked, showing her that he actually appreciated the dig. "Are they sure they came here? This doesn't seem like the kind of place I'd wanna hide out."
Naruto dismissed her question. Rai had never been wrong before. And Shibaru may not be as great as Rai, but even if she agreed with Rai they were on the right track.
The team moved through the town and broke up to search for information. Naruto moved into a bar and ordered a quick drink while looking everyone over. Everyone inside the place looked like bandits, murderers, thieves, and mercenary wannabes. He also noted that neither of them seemed like the type to hold information without money being involved.
"You're not from around here, are you mister?" Naruto cocked his head to the side and noted that the bartender was speaking to him. He looked at the man and then tossed out a gold piece for his drink. The man stared at it, bit it, stared at it again, and then pocketed it as he leaned down onto the countertop and said, "What are you looking for?"
Naruto swiveled around in his chair and hunched over. "I'm looking for a bald teen with arrow tattoos over his body. He came into this village about an hour ago, maybe thirty minutes ago in fact. He was carrying a wooden staff and traveling with three other people. Two girls and one male. All of them teens. Have you seen anyone like that?"
The bartender smiled. "Can't say that I have." Naruto withdrew his scary knife and slammed it down into the table. The man jumped, as well as the others in the place. He stammered with his words for a moment and then answered with a clear set of vocals. "I think I might have seen them. A group of teens traveled with some guy that's been looking for a library that's supposedly built out in the desert. They left about twenty to thirty minutes ago."
Naruto pulled his knife free and stood up. "Thanks for information." He walked out and soon spotted trouble. Lyra had a few of the Sandbenders surrounding her and trying something. Rai was quick to act by jumping into the fray of things and pinning two of them to the ground under his massive frame. This stopped the others from what they were doing to try and tame Rai. They failed to get near him without running the risk of getting clawed and bitten in half.
"Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?" Naruto made sure his voice carried. The men turned and gave each other a blank stare behind their glasses before shrugging off to the nearest shadow. The assassin watched them leave before turning to Lyra. "You okay?"
She nodded with a grunt. "Yeah… Those men were just trying to put the moves on me and I was denying them at every turn. They were probably about to get hostile with me though." Naruto nodded mutely and waited for Zentrai to show up. He walked out of a building with another red mark on his face. Naruto didn't have to ask about it. "What'd you learn?"
"I learned that the locals don't know what a brothel is," he answered. Naruto dismissed this with a snort. The mute smiled though. "I did learn that our little group just wondered off into the desert to look for something. They're with a teacher from Ba Sing Se University, head of Anthropology. He's here looking for a legendary library, the Library of Wong Shi Tong." Shibaru whimpered while Rai started growling. The two other teens eyed them for a moment before Naruto gave a nod to Zentrai. Even without the nod he'd start asking questions. "You've heard of him?"
Naruto and Lyra wouldn't be able to hear this conversation. Shibaru and Rai were both former Spirits that had given up their immortality to become mortal beings. They wanted to "Live" as the people of the world called it. They wanted to feel, to touch, to starve, to be full, be happy and sad, and to be one with the world. Being immortal had withered away at them and they were left with the feelings of being unimportant to the world. To counter this they came to the mortal world and dawned physical bodies. But these bodies couldn't speak to others unless they too were Spirits or in Zentrai's case a telepath.
Shibaru nodded vigorously alongside her friend. "It was a long time ago that that Spirit started his library. He started filling it with books, tomes, scrolls, any piece of parchment he could get his hands on since the day humans first learned to draw and write on the walls of their caves they once called their homes." Zentrai nodded and still continued to be marveled by her voice. It was heavenly to him to hear a woman with such a voice. The large beast continued her conversation. "He is an ancient Spirit, and one that is not to be taken likely. He holds all the wisdom of the world not just in his library but in himself as well. He has studied everything that has even been written, whether it is on stone or a piece of animal hid. He is very protective of his knowledge and wishes to keep it all to himself last we saw of him. I can lead you to this place, but it will not be an easy trip."
Zentrai turned and relayed all of this to the others while Rai gave his chosen mate a hard and pleading look. Naruto took notice of the "Silent" conversation that passed between the two Spirits but made no move to stop them. As Zentrai finished filling them in, Naruto suddenly sighed. "We'll need water and food and warmer clothes for this. I doubt this will take a single day to get there." Rai began to whimper even more. Not because he didn't want to go to this place, but because he knew, like Naruto, that there was next to no life in the desert, meaning he'd have to eat either the really big bugs, or go without using his vanishing ability.
"What are we going to do for food with Rai and Shibaru?" Rai's ears perked upon hearing Lyra's question. When food was involved, he was all ears, just like Shibaru. Naruto dismissed her with a wave of his hand. Either he had that planned out already or wasn't that worried about it. Lyra shrugged her one shoulder and gave the two beasts a quick glance. "I'm sure that there's animal life in the desert. But we should pack up some meat just for them in case we're out there for a prolong set of time."
"Agreed," Zentrai answered. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Unless of course, you have something else planned for them to eat."
To answer this question, Naruto motioned a set of Sandbenders that were on their way out of the village. There were dozens of them and none of them seemed too happy at the moment. "I made quite a scene not two minutes right here and then in the bar awhile ago. If we're lucky, a few of them might follow us and supply them with food. If not, I'll have no problems handing over some of my food to Rai, as I'm sure you'll have no problem handing over some of your food to Shibaru?"
Rai licked his lips upon hearing this.
The mute sighed and silently nodded. Naruto would never forgive him if he didn't and Shibaru would attempt to eat all of his food as well.
They loaded up on supplies and then began their journey into the desert. Naruto took one step into it and sighed. He had avoided this desert for a few reasons. The first reason was because of the fact that it reminded him of Suna too much and his friend Gaara. The only reason it truly reminded him of Gaara was because of the Sandbenders that lived here. They could do only a handful of Gaara's skills, such as throwing the sand around like he did, but they couldn't crush people the way he did or move it in the same fluid motions.
The blond sighed as he looked over to Rai as he was hunkered down by bags of water and food and blankets. Shibaru was sporting some of the weight as well. Naruto, Lyra, and Zentrai pitched in as well and carried most of the gear themselves. Shibaru and Rai were actually leading, and it was important for the leader to wear the least amount of gear since they were the leaders of the mission at the moment.
Naruto hissed though as they crossed the desert. He got sand in places he didn't think possible. He got in his shoes, in his mouth, nose, hair, eyes, ears, and even in the back of his knee, elbows, armpits, and under his fingernails. He never would have noticed he got it in his fingernails if Lyra hadn't gotten annoyed and started cleaning it out from under her nails. But he endured it. He wouldn't start complaining now.
Naruto decided to pass the time thinking about his former life. Looking back at it now made him well aware of how dumb he actually had been back then. He felt stupid even now for believing in the things he did. He would have kicked himself if he had the determination to do so for even thinking that he was smart and powerful back then. He paused in mid thought for a moment and then smiled. He knew he was powerful back then. He had the power of the Kyuubi behind him. No one would have been able to beat him if he used that thing's power.
And yet, he thought with a deep sigh, I was defeated… I think.
Naruto wasn't fully aware on how he got here. He never understood it. He wasn't sure if he had died and got sent here, was simply transported here, or simply got stuck in a time loop that threw him backwards in time. And to make things worse for him, there were parts he couldn't remember. The only thing he had remembered clearly was when he fought against Pain and won. That was about as far back as he could remember clearly.
As they approached a high dune, Rai suddenly stopped and looked directly towards another dune adjacent to theirs. On the hill sat a small shimmering object. Zentrai gave a peek into Rai and Shibaru's mind. The two didn't take notice of him until he said, "It's a little fox. It's one of the knowledge seekers of Wong Shi Tong. That means that the library has to be around here somewhere."
Rai gave a curt nod while Shibaru started to whimper. Kneeling down, Zentrai retrieved a piece of jerky and gave both pets a piece. Rai ate his with delight while Shibaru took her time and nibbled on it. Seeing her discomfort with all the gear, Zentrai removed a portion of it and put it on his own.
Naruto scratched at the side of his head as they began to follow the creature. They crossed dune after dune and passed up every single plant they came across. By the time noon had rolled around they actually catch sight of their targets. It wasn't what Naruto or Lyra had expected. It was a single golden tower that rose a few meters into the air. The once great library had been buried under the sands of time.
And across from them he could see the group of teens eyeing the thing.
Naruto forced the team down and watched them from across the desert like a hawk. Shibaru began to growl as she watched Toph start talking with Appa about something. Naruto noted her annoyance and decided to do something stupid.
"One of us should head inside to ensure the safety of the Avatar," Naruto suggested. Lyra shook her head. She was a no go. She spent too much time in a library of information that she didn't want to see a single book unless it was a target holding one. Zentrai gave a nod, signaling that he'd take point. "The rest of us will stay outside to ensure that nothing happens to Toph and the Bison. Shibaru," Naruto began stripping her of her packs, "head out with Zentrai and keep him on track. If things get bad, the Avatar's safety is top priority. All other things are consider secondary priority."
Zentrai gave a nod and circled around the place with Shibaru leading the way. They intended to stay far away from the Bison and Toph. As the mute moved behind the dunes to keep out of sight, he linked with Toph's mind to understand her better.
The first thing he noticed was that she was in fact blind. He had already learned that much from their first encounter, but he'd never been a hundred percent sure. He also learned that she could 'see' with Earthbending. She used the vibrations people gave off to track and see them. It was possible that this was why she was such a dangerous opponent and someone that was considered an Earthbending prodigy.
All other things on her mind turned to food, water, being bored, and wanting to leave the heat of the desert as soon as possible.
With nothing else going on in her mind, the mute and pet moved to the back of the tower and approached it with great caution. Zentrai sized it up and then ran up the side of it. Gravity kicked in and jumped for the top. He didn't make it, but he stopped his decent with a quick knife into one of the cracks that lined the tower. He paused after getting his footing. He checked Toph's mind. She hadn't heard him or wasn't paying attention.
Looking down, he motioned to Shibaru before ascending further up the tower. He got to the window and watched as Shibaru sank into the ground, vanished in a plume of black smoke, and appeared by his feet. "I wish I had that ability," he said simply. Shibaru gave him a confused glance. He shrugged it off and looked down into the depths of the tower. Opening his mind to the world, he felt out the presence of a half a dozen people. He recognized Katara, Aang, Momo, and Sokka. There were two unknowns.
He waited for his chance to climb down the very rope that Sokka had put in place. When he was certain that nothing was down there that could spot him, he climbed down and touched down on the first of many bridges that lined the massive building. A mountain of books covered his vision with a vast collection of stuffed animal heads. Shibaru whimpered softly at some of them as they started moving through the place.
Zentrai sent her a wave of calm and she relaxed for a moment.
They moved through the library at a leisurely pace before Zentrai suddenly stopped and scowled. "What are you doing here in my library," a cool and collected voice asked.
The moment the mute turned to see who was talking was the moment he feared that something or someone was about to die. Before him stood a fiver meter tall owl that glowered down on them. Zentrai's first thought was to kill it and moved on. But it had spoken human tongue and clearly looked more amused with him rather than Shibaru.
The teen stood straighter and calmly said, "I'm here to protect the Avatar. It's my mission. Get in my way, and I'll cut you down." The owl seemed shocked for only a brief moment. It passed just as quickly as it appeared and Zentrai probed his mind. He stopped sort on another threat when he learned that it was the Spirit, Wong Shi Tong. He turned quickly to Shibaru and said, "Do all the Spirits take animals forms for a reason or just because they like bestiality?"
The owl voiced its question over Zentrai's. "So… you're one of those people? I thought your race of benders died out two hundred years ago. It seems I was mistaken." He started circling the teen and Shibaru began to growl. Zentrai calmed her once more and smiled. He stopped as he got down low to the ground and eyed him dangerously. "You are a royal specimen. I believe I'll add you to my collection."
Before anything could be done, Shibaru broke in with a harsh cry of, "Touch him not or you will feel my wrath, lowly Spirit!" Wong Shi Tong turned hastily to Shibaru with wide eyes. Shibaru, to Wong Shi Tong alone, saw her evil aura she produced. It whipped about wildly and he could see the faint traces of fire burning in her eyes. She'd use her powers to set the place aflame if he did anything to Zentrai. With the message clearly delivered, the Spirit backed off and waited for her to continue speaking.
"You've got a lot of nerve trying to collect humans for your study, Wong Shi Tong. You are no better than the Fire Nation soldier that came to your library and burned your collection on the Fire Nation. You have no right to do this!" The owl Spirit snorted and lowered himself to her eye level. He opened his mouth, but the fire in her eyes increased and he backed off again. "I trust you didn't kill the Avatar and his group?"
"I merely forced them to hand over some tomes or scroll in order to see my collection. They contributed and have been granted access to my vast collection of knowledge. Though I doubt they will not use my knowledge to destroy someone. All humans work that way." His eyes locked with Zentrai for a moment. He turned away and continued to monitor the other humans in the library by way of his foxes. "They will use my knowledge to bring harm to those around them for no reason. It is the way humans work. They only want information to better themselves over other humans."
"You don't care for humans yet you steal their books and scrolls for your own purposes," Zentrai sent to him. The Owl Spirit hissed a curse towards in a different and ancient language. Zentrai ignored it and glared at him. "If you take that which belongs to humans and expect them to read it without using it on their enemies, you're a fool. And besides, with what the Fire Nation has been doing to this world, vengeance must be dealt to them."
"You are no better than the other humans who have done such terrible deeds then."
"No. He does what he does to protect his loved ones. What the Fire Nation is doing it wrong and unjust. You shall let them do what they must in order to survive this war. Or so help me, my mate and I will tear you down." Wong Shi Tong took a step forward but then watched a thing metal blades began to float in the air. Wong Shi Tong gave the weapons a hard glance before turning away. "You seem to have forgotten that he is a Magnetism-Bender."
Zentrai hastily pulled back his weapons as he continued to probe the mind of the owl. This sent a wave of alarm through Shibaru. She was a former Spirit, sort of like how Wong Shi Tong was. Both attained physical bodies and joined the mortal world to do what they felt they needed to do. They still had some powers, but not a lot. They were mortal now and their powers were limited to certain things, like Rai and Shibaru's own vanishing trick.
Wong Shi Tong on the other hand would actually have the upper hand in battle because of all the fighting styles he'd learned over the years. He also had flight on his side and was twice as big as either of the two. There was also the fact that most of his feathers hid where his actual flesh was. He appeared big, but was really rather tiny underneath it all. An illusion of some sort as Naruto would have probably explained it as.
But this wasn't his reason for pulling his weapons back.
"You have millions of books, tomes, scrolls, and random pieces of parchments from all over the world and time, correct?" The owl nodded silently. "And you said you thought my race of people died off two hundred years ago." He paused and looked to Shibaru. She understood what he wanted. "You have this place set up according to the nation or bending abilities, correct?"
"Yes."
"Do you have anything at all on my people?"
"Yes."
"Can I see it, please?"
"No."
"No? Why not? I know nothing of my people other than legends and rumors. I know my people no longer exist as one. Our blood has been split among all the other nations because we did this during the time in which all blood ties were lined as one. I know that if I can look back far enough I'd learn that my great-great grandfather was probably a Waterbender or something like that. My people are the only ones that have the blood of all nations pumping through us because we never found a place to fully call home."
"You're people had secrets that are best left forgotten," he answered cryptically. Shibaru looked to the owl for a moment and then turned her attention to one of the foxes. Wong Shi Tong sighed as he glanced around. He looked unhappy with something. "I need to be somewhere else at the moment. If it pleases you, I will take you to what you seek. But I warn you, what you will learn is not a lie. Your race of benders has far too many skeletons in the closet to count."
"I don't care! Show me!" He ordered.
Wong Shi Tong gave his fox a quick nod before departing. The Owl Spirit led them through a various set of shelves, stairs, even made him go down a few floors before getting to a sealed off section. There were scorch marks along the side of it. Clearly someone had tried to get inside and failed horribly. Zentrai moved forward and knelt down to inspect them. Wong Shi Tong passed him by and kept walking.
Shibaru began sniffing the air and suddenly started to whimper.
Zentrai paid her no mind. This was the closest chance he'd get to learning more techniques for his bending.
Wong Shi Tong stopped at one of the doors and ran a wing over the latch. It opened and the door opened with a bit of dust falling off the doors. "What you may find is nothing but the truth. There is only truth in what is written. What you seek cannot fully be reclaimed. You're people are dead and scattered through the lands by ways of blood. Within a century you're people will be washed away among the sands of time. With each new child born, a little more of the blood is diluted and pushed to the side. It is your destiny to wash away with the sands of time."
The mute simply ignored his warnings and pushed through into the darkness. He wanted to learn about his history no matter what it was.
(-)
Naruto fiddled with the dirt beneath his hands. He was attempting to bury his hand, arm, and shoulder without having it pressed flat against the ground. He was failing horribly, but still trying out of boredom. Off to his side was Rai who simply let Lyra bury him in the sand with a smile on her face. Rai just twitched his tail and the sand went flying from his form, forcing Lyra to rebury him. This went on for a dozen minutes before both got bored with their attempts at being buried in the sand.
"Sure is sandy out here," Naruto said quietly. Rai began to whimper from the heat and started licking his fur to keep cool. Naruto retrieved a sack of water and snapped his fingers. Rai opened his mouth and Naruto poured it into a small bowl. Rai drank the water happily and soon had it all gone. Naruto took a drink from it and then tossed it to Lyra. "I wonder just how long they'll be in there."
"Days probably," Lyra offered. She stopped and thought of the Flying Bison. "A few hours probably." She corrected. "From what we've seen so far, Aang cares very deeply for Appa and would probably sacrifice himself for him if he needed to."
Naruto leaned down against the sand and sighed. He didn't have anything to saw to that analogy. They both knew it to be true and were pleased by it. If Aang didn't treat the animal with respect, Naruto or Zentrai might have decided to beat him up.
The minutes ticked by and the two teens opted for self entertainment of their own kind. Naruto started drawing in the sand while Lyra tried Sandbending. She failed to do anything but make it simply move. The sand, which was made up of trillions of ground up pieces of earth, was too shifty and didn't work well with her. She may have been a prodigy student, but even they had trouble with a few things.
Naruto suddenly sighed as he looked down at his drawing. "Do you remember Shiva?" Lyra paused and then nodded. That had been the name of the woman that had drew for him so they could understand the small language barrier between the two. "I used to make fun of her for her crappy way of drawing. But not that I look down at mine…" his voice trailed off as Lyra started giggling. "I tried to draw a picture of a bowl, two chopsticks, and a small napkin. I think I failed."
Lyra continued to laugh.
The chopsticks looked more like twigs with the squiggly lines he made for them. The bowl looked more like a ball/hexagon. And the napkin looked exactly like a pyramid. She laughed for another minute while the teen started laughing as well.
"My art gallery is not very good." He laughed out. Lyra lost it and rolled over laughing. She punched her stomach to try and stop but failed. Naruto just continued to laugh even as Zentrai returned. Naruto was spooked by his sudden appearance. That and the fact that he also dropped a dozen tomes and scrolls right beside them. Naruto gave him a hard glance and then eyed some of the scrolls. "You can read?" He joked. He pulled his book out of his back pocket and started to read his own book.
"Wong Shi Tong, an asshole he may be, had a pretty good collection of techniques and other things on my people. I took the basics of our history and creation from the library so that I could learn more about my history." He dropped a bag and it clanged hard into the sand. Naruto gave it a strange glance but said nothing. "Apparently he had to go deal with something shortly after showing me the location of the room where it was stored. There are some pretty interesting things in here anyways."
"I'm happy for you," Lyra announced with a fake smile. He caught it and gave her a blank stare. "But weren't your orders to watch over the teens and the Avatar?"
"What sort of trouble can they get into at a library?"
Naruto was about to say something when he noticed that Toph was running straight for the tower. She was screaming something that Naruto couldn't catch. He was too focused on the tower. It looked like it was slowly sinking into the sand. He scanned the dune behind it and noted that in fact that dune was no taller than it was.
"The library is sinking!" Naruto shouted as he ran for it. Lyra and Zentrai took off running for the tower with their two pets pushing ahead of them in a split second. "Zentrai, Rai, Shibaru. Get inside the tower and get them out by any means necessary! Lyra, we're going to hold the tower up as long as we can!" Naruto barked out. Zentrai pumped his legs harder as the two pets left him and the other two teens in a plume of dust kicked up by their charge.
Naruto got to the tower first and slammed his hand into the hard stone. He didn't even consider what Toph might do with him now here. With a grunt his power activated and consumed him. The tower slowed its decent, but the blond could feel his legs burning and his feet sinking into the sand.
"What are you doing here?" Toph asked through a painful grunt. Zentrai, Rai, and Shibaru slipped inside while Lyra appeared and slammed her one hand into the tower. Toph began breathing easier with the two helping her even though they were still sinking into the sand. "Hold on for a second."
Toph let go and the two teens groaned as the tower slammed down hard on their bodies. Toph grabbed the sand twisted her hand. The particles fused together and created solid ground.
"That should help a bit."
Naruto ignored her and began breathing heavily before she could get back to her task of helping them hold the tower up.
(-)
There was no time to repel down the rope. Zentrai mounted Shibaru and slammed down into the ground when she jumped off the ledge. Once on the ground, he ordered them split up and search for the Avatar. There was no need to split up. Their noses lead the way.
The mute followed them through dozen of shelves and turns before coming face to face with Wong Shi Tong. He was chasing after Katara. Katara didn't seem to see them until Zentrai tossed some blades right over her head to hit the giant owl in the center of his head. His weapons pinged off his flesh and stunned him only. Katara stopped running when she noticed him, turned to see where the owl was, and then ran towards Zentrai.
Rai and Shibaru passed her by and lunged at Wong Shi Tong. Rai bit into his throat while Shibaru jumped onto his back and bit the back of his neck. They shook their heads to try and tear his flesh from his body. Wong Shi Tong's flesh was stronger than what they thought. Even for them it was like biting into stone. Still they held on and tried to tear his flesh apart.
The giant owl squawked in pain and took off running through the bookshelves. He jumped up and slammed Shibaru into the ceiling. She cried in pain as she was pulled off and left skipping along the ground before righting herself to get back at him. Rai held on tighter and tried harder to pull his flesh from him. Wong Shi Tong twisted around and then spun in the other direction, practically flinging Rai from his throat.
The Owl Spirit hastily moved to attack when a barrage of blades rained down on his form. He ducked and slithered into cover. That didn't help him. The blades rose from the ground and followed after him. He turned and flapped his wings rapidly. A dust storm formed and threw the weapons away for a brief moment. They returned anew and struck harder than before. Some of them swung around back and slammed into the base of his skull. The Owl Spirit lunged forward from the blow and darted for the large portion of open space.
He reached it with no problems and started hovering in the air. His eyes scanned the place over as he looked for his targets. He'd let none escape with the knowledge they bore.
(-)
The first sign of trouble on the surface came when Appa suddenly began to growl. Between the three teens trying to hold the tower up, things had been going smoothly. Neither one of them had complained about the weight or their sudden appearance. In fact Toph seemed happy to have them helping her. So when the trouble started, Naruto began to panic.
"What is it now?" Toph asked through her grunting.
Naruto turned his attention to their rear and said, "There's a dust cloud heading in this direction!" He waited until three dots appeared. "Sandbenders! They probably followed one of us for our gear! They're known thieves!" A swirling storm of dust circled Appa and the teen grunted as he felt his foot slip deeper into the sand. "They're here for the Bison! Lyra," Naruto's footing slipped and the two girls screamed as the added weight was brought down on them.
Naruto quickly righted himself and took back his post.
"Sorry about that! Lyra, let go! Toph and I should be able to hold onto it while you defend the Bison!"
"But…"
"Don't argue with me! Just do it!" Lyra swore loudly and released her hold on the tower. The added weight came down on them, but Naruto bore the most of it. He had a higher grip and was trying to keep Toph from being injured. Lyra went into combat while Naruto said, "I wasn't aware on how much she was taking off of us!"
"How do you think we felt when you slipped?" The blind teen asked. Naruto didn't have the luxury of retorting. He was too busy trying to ensure he didn't bite a hole in his tongue as the weight began to tax him. "Can I ask you something?" Naruto didn't reply. "I can see red right now! I can't see anything normally! But right now! All I see is red! Care to explain that?"
"Now is not the best of times!" Naruto's foot began to slip. He pulled it out and slammed it back down into place as he felt his left leg crack. I think I just broke a bone in leg!
(-)
The moment Lyra let go she was gone. She threw herself between Appa and the Sandbenders. The dust storm they cooked up covered most of her vision, leaving her near blind. They took shelter behind their smoke screen and attacked without mercy. Lyra could barely make out their silhouettes from behind the cloud of sand. When she noticed movement, she leapt at the shadow and found her first target.
It was a man as best she could tell. She dropped him hard with a two palm thrust to the chest. He spat blood and dropped holding himself. He'd live but he'd have breathing problems from the force of her blow. Two more men appeared and threw sand at her. It wrapped around her one arm and left leg. She cursed and broke free with all her strength. The Sandbenders didn't stop. They lashed out with more sand attacks. She sidestepped them, got in close, and downed them with quick, sharp, blows.
Appa swung his tail and nearly crushed her. She darted to the side, tucked, rolled, and sprang back to her feet, her hand poised like a cobra. Appa's attack missed, but dissipated the cloud of dust. Now able to see clearly, Lyra was on a near even playing field.
She jumped to the first target she found and kicked him hard in both kneecaps. He grunted and fell as a sand bag hit him in the head. Lyra turned and watched as Appa was downed by the ropes. She jumped to the closest one and palmed him hard in the sternum. He doubled over, coughed blood, but head butted her in the face. She was knocked back and thrown away by a large wall of sand.
Lyra hit the ground, rolled, and then jumped back to her feet. She charged the men but began to sink in the sand. One of them in the distance was dancing. No. He wasn't dancing. He was bending the sand to make her fall into the ground. She swore loudly. Reeling back with her one arm, she flung it forward and released a single knife. It slammed into his side and stopped him cold. She broke out of the sandpit and ran towards the men as fast as she could.
"Put a muzzle on him!" One of the men screamed.
She charged that man. It was a young man with dark brown hair barely hidden under the turban he wore. All she could see was his dark eye and tanned skin. When she got in close, he swung a fist and knocked her across the face. Blood splattered the sands, but she rolled with the blow and kicked him with the back of her heel in the nose. She felt, rather than heard, his nose break. Blood jetted out of his mask and soaked the ground.
"Kill this bitch!" He ordered.
As Appa was finally tied up, Lyra was quickly dispatched. Outnumbered and on unnatural ground, she had no way of winning. One of them men managed to score a cheap hit on the back of her neck and dropped her cold. She hit the ground with the knife she had used on one of them in her side. She looked up from her daze to watch them leave.
"No…" Darkness took her.
(-)
Wong Shi Tong couldn't believe how badly things were going. Zentrai, Rai, and Shibaru were proving to be a major annoyance. Perhaps I shouldn't have let him see his people's legacy? He stuffed that thought down into the darkness as he was struck from the side. Shibaru and Rai had gotten in close once more and knocked him out of the air. He dropped hard to the ground but rolled to crush them. The two Spirits vanished in a plume of dark smoke.
Wong Shi Tong stood up and looked around. "That power won't last forever. Eventually you'll run out of energy and will no longer be able to hide from me. And when that happens, I will have two new stuffed heads on my walls," he said darkly.
"Not if I cut your head off!" The Owl Spirit looked up just into time to have Zentrai slam two oddly designed swords on the back of his neck. They were hollowed out blades that had a single bar running through them to act like the hilt. He was basically holding the sword from inside the blade itself.
He swung and slammed the weapons down with enough force the have the Knowledge Spirit's head snap up. He squawked from the force of the blow but did not bleed. Noticing this, Zentrai swung again and was batted away by the long tail of the spirit. Zentrai flipped and corrected his flight. He landed on the adjacent bridge and stared at the spirit with darkened eyes.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Those humans that came before you lied to me and will use the knowledge gathered here against other humans. They say they are doing it to protect the ones they love. If that is was what they believe, then I too will protect what I love." Zentrai snorted both mentally and physically. "You snort at me because you yourself are incapable of true love. You're kind could never truly love anyone. It was the curse your tribe suffered from. Even if you are only a half-breed by nature, you still feel the burden, don't you? You can't love because of the Spirit that was used to create your kind."
"I'll have you know that I can love and I do love. I love my mother. I love my team. And I love fighting for what's right! And I'm going to love killing you for what you've done here!" The giant owl gave a shrug. "You don't even care that you're about to kill the Avatar do you?"
"He is just a human trying to better himself over other humans. Avatar or not, he is still just a human. And like all humans, he is an evil person in his heart of hearts."
"Then why is the Avatar a signal of hope for those without it? What is the purpose of the Avatar then? Just because he's supposed to bring balance to the world doesn't make him evil. If being evil means saving the world from total destruction, than what does it mean to be good in your eyes?"
"Good and Evil are just words. They are nothing to either of them. There is no good in this world and there is no evil. There is only nothing."
"You've become twisted!" Shibaru growled. She lunged at the other spirit and slammed him against the ground. He struggled to stand under her form. He eventually rose and tossed her aside with a flick of his long neck. She flew through the air and landed on the well where she clung with her nails. "You were always reading and sticking your beck in places it didn't belong. Is this the sum of your knowledge? Is this what you have come to believe by reading your books?"
"Human history is nothing but a lie cooked up by the winner of a fight. That is all that is in their history. Bloodshed. Their history is nothing but bloodshed. There is not a single tome I posses that doesn't even have something to do with a war or battle that was fought and one so someone could write about it. What I have learned from reading is that humans are creatures that know only of war and hatred. They know nothing of peace!"
He flapped his wings and knocked pet and owner back. Zentrai flipped through the air and landed on the wall. He jammed his sword into it and stood up on it while Shibaru clung to the wall with her claws.
"Then why was the Avatar created?" Rai dropped down on Wong Shi Tong's back and bit his featured ear. He squawked loudly to this and started flinging his head around, slamming the male into the ground hard. "We helped in the creation of the Avatar so that the humans would be able to live their lives in peace. They wanted nothing more than to have it, yet they fought battle after battle to have till we were asked by a select few! We gave them hope! We gave them an answer to their prayers!"
The Owl Spirit snapped his head in one direction and whipped it back the other way. Rai was flung away and sent crashing through two rows of books before using his vanishing trick.
"Yet look at what they have done even with the Avatar!" Wong Shi Tong proclaimed loudly. He flapped his wings again as Shibaru and Zentrai leapt at him. They were knocked back, but Zentrai threw another one of his swords at him from within his large weapon rack on his back. The Owl Spirit felt the blade bounce of his flesh and fly higher into the air. "Even with the Avatar there is nothing but suffering and bloodshed. Even with our little nudge we gave them for peace they still fight!"
Zentrai scowled and lunged at the Spirit. He drove one sword into his mouth. Wong Shi Tong bit down on him, but found his flesh too hard to break with his beck. It tasted just like metal to him. His eyes widened in shock as he figured it out. Before he could let go, however, a hail of knives shattered through his bottom beck. Blood jetted out of the wound and he screamed in total agony. He whipped around and screamed at the mute for his actions.
Zentrai pulled back his weapons and dropped to the ground just as Katara appeared with Momo in hand. Wong Shi Tong turned to her and then turned to Zentrai. "It matters not what you try against me, mortals. I have studied Southern Water Style, Northern Water Style… even Foggy Swamp Style. And I know all of your secrets, Magnetism-Bender. You cannot beat me!" Zentrai sheathed both of his swords while calling the other one back. "You're weapons can't cut my skin. You have to understand that by now?"
"Who said anything about cutting your flesh now?" Zentrai pulled the weapon rack from his back and brought it forward. "This may be a large metal sheath of some sort to those that look at it, but it is much more than that. This is my personal Anti-Son-Of-A-Bitch Stick! And guess what? You're the one I'm after."
The mute jumped into the air as Sokka came down with a large book in hand. The Water Tribe warrior slammed it down into the birds head while Zentrai came down and delivered another blow to him. The owl howled and fell into the darkness. Sokka looked at Zentrai and then the blood he was covered in. His fighting had gotten him injured.
Rai and Shibaru appeared both sporting wounds as well and looked back to the ceiling.
"We need to get out of here!" Sokka exclaimed. Aang flew overhead and let the two teens grab onto his feet. He would have taken Zentrai but the mute would have weighed them down too much. He jumped on Shibaru's back and rode the walls.
"You're not leaving!"
Zentrai growled and jumped off of Shibaru as the owl got closer to them. He slammed his weapon back down into his skull. He could hear his skull crack under the force. But this didn't stop Wong Shi Tong. He was a Spirit after all. It would take more than Zentrai's weapons to take him down. He pushed off of him as the spirit continued to head for Aang and the others. Zentrai slammed his weapon again into his skull, this time getting his attention.
"You're an eyesore!" He swung one of his wings awkwardly and threw the teen down with a gust of wind. Zentrai fell down and grabbed onto Wong Shi Tong's clawed foot. The Spirit looked down with utter annoyance until he saw him break off one of his talons with the help of Rai. Pulling himself up to him, he jammed the talon into his eye, earning painful screams from Wong Shi Tong. "You damn human!"
Zentrai slammed his weapon once more into his skull, this time right at the base of his beck. It cracked and knocked him out for good that time. As he fell into the darkness, Rai grabbed onto Zentrai and clanged onto the wall. He ran straight up with the teen watching for any sign of the Spirit's return.
Aang and his group were the first to exit the tower. Zentrai was relieved to see that as he exited a moment later with Shibaru nipped at their tails. He dismounted in the air and crashed into the ground with the two Spirits doing the same.
"Let it go!" Zentrai ordered to Naruto.
Naruto kicked Toph back and then let go just before the tower's full weight could crush down on him. He was thrown back by a heavy breeze and landed next to Toph as his powers died away. They two remained on the ground breathing heavily. "That… sucked!" Naruto groaned as he sat up. Toph did the same and held her head in her hands sadly. Naruto was soon on his feet and running to Lyra. She was still on the ground but no longer bleeding.
"Toph," Aang called out in confusion. She sighed as she knew what was coming. "Where's Appa?" She shook her head while Naruto and Zentrai tended to their wounded pets. "What happened?"
"Sandbenders came and kidnapped him while we were holding the tower up," Naruto explained through labored breathing. He punched his chest a few times and started coughing. "I hate sand." He coughed once more and then stood up straight while limping on his possibly cracked leg. "They came while we were holding the tower up to keep you safe. Lyra tried to stop them but she can't bend the sand like they can. She injured a few of them but…" Naruto shook his head.
Aang turned his back to all of them as Lyra sat up without her shirt on. Zentrai was tending to her wounds after seeing to their pets.
"Why?" Naruto sighed as Lyra suddenly screamed from having Zentrai sew her wound up. "Why did you let them take Appa?!"
"The Library was sinking! It was either save your lives or Appa! Which would you have preferred?" Naruto snapped. Aang turned to face him as Naruto pulled his pant leg up and felt the bone. Maybe I simply popped it? Naruto rolled it back down and got up. "And personally, the world needs you more than they do your Flying Bison. You have a duty to the world, Avatar. I suggest you focus on that instead of your pet at the moment."
"How can you say that?" Aang stopped and looked the three teens over as they finished moving their gear around. "Why are you here? I thought you said you'd protect us? Why didn't you protect Appa?" He pointed his staff at Naruto's nose. The teen batted it away and looked him deep in the eye. "You could have saved him!"
"Yes. I admit I could have saved him. But I wasn't going to risk letting go of the tower for a moment just to make a few shadow clones that would have been destroyed easily. They can't use my powers and they're not nearly as powerful as I am when I'm serious. They wouldn't have lasted. And the only reason I'm here is to ensure you're survival. I have orders to ensure that you survive. You have a duty to the world and I suggest you start fulfilling it since you're a hundred years late on the job."
"You could have come to get us! I could have saved him!" Aang screamed at all four of the teens. Naruto sighed and shook his head.
"How could we? Didn't you listen to him just now?" Toph screamed.
"None of you cared! You didn't like Appa! You're pets tried to eat Appa!" Rai was pawed in the face by Shibaru for that as if to remind him of his faulty.
Naruto reached over and slapped Aang across the face. The slap was hard and to the point. It left a red mark on the side of his face. "Stop acting like a child that just had his favorite toy broken, Avatar," Naruto shouted. "Yelling isn't going to do you any good. And for the record, you should have known to not do anything stupid inside the place. It was near fully buried and you started poking your noses around in the place."
Aang turned and walked off.
"Where are you going?" Katara screamed.
"I'm going to find Appa!" Aang took off into the sky, leaving the teens behind.
Naruto shook his head. "Zentrai, take Shibaru and follow him. Lyra, can you move on your own?" Zentrai began removing the gear from Shibaru as the female assassin got to her feet. She wobbled and Rai was quickly at her side to help her stand. "Keep an eye on Aang and don't let him do anything stupid. I'll get these guys out of the desert."
"We need to get to Ba Sing Se," Sokka announced. Naruto gave him a funny look. Sokka closed his eyes. "If you guys are truly serious about helping us, help us get to Ba Sing Si. We have key information that could help us end this war. Can you get us to Ba Sing Se?"
Naruto looked to Zentrai and gave him a nod. "Yes. We'll help you get to Ba Sing Se. But first things first," Naruto grabbed Lyra up and placed her on his back. "We need to get you guys out of here." The blond knelt down and retrieved a map from one of the bags that were now stuffed onto Rai. He skimmed over it and pointed to a place on it. "We'll meet here, Zentrai. If you can't find us, wait there for a week. If we don't show up, move on without us. But whatever happens, keep the Avatar alive. This world can't afford to have him fall now."
Zentrai rode off into the distance on Shibaru. Naruto grabbed the gear that would have been taken by Lyra and Shibaru and put it on his own and Rai. Rai groaned from the added weight before Toph decided to take some of it.
Sokka was quick to snatch up the map he held and smiled. "You have a map of the Fire Nation."
"You can't have it. But you can look at on the way out of here. We need to get moving though." Naruto summoned up five clones, his max nowadays, and forced them into carrying the added weight while the original carried Lyra. "We have to get going. It'll be dark soon and I personally wanna get out of this desert. I have some supplies but not enough for all of us for more than three days if did my math right, which I probably did wrong."
"What about Aang?" Katara asked. She was eyeing Lyra. The girl had flushed cheeks and was breathing heavily.
"Zentrai and Shibaru will ensure he survives. If nothing else, they'll get to the rendezvous place before us unless Aang somehow can get back to us." Naruto moved Lyra up closed on his back and started walking. This is so not what I was hoping it to be.