A/N: This is likely the last chapter to be posted on this site, see AN at the bottom for details.
Aang, Katara, Sokka and Appa rested in a forrest clearing, Appa laying down, Karara and Sokka where sitting down while Aang just stood. Momo wasn't anywhere in sight and Aang was starting to get a little anxious since he hadn't come back yet.
"Where's Momo?" He asked the two others, hoping that they had seen where the lemur had gone of to, but before they could answer they all heard Momo's yowl echoing through the forrest.
They started to look around, trying to tell where the call had come from. A moment later Sokka and Katara got up from the ground as Aang started running of in one direction. Soon after they arrived in a clearing where they saw momo suspended in the air in a ball-like cage.
"Hang on Momo!" Aang said before, with a sweep of his arms, he made an airbending leap, rebounding of a close-by tree trunks in order to reach the treebranch that held the rope to the cage. Attached to the nearby trunk is a small winch. A rope enters the winch from lower on the trunk, then continues up to an eyeloop bolt attached to the underside of the branch, before hanging straight down. As Aang reached the branch he quickly sat down before flipping backwards, using his legs to hold onto the branch. As he dangled beneath it like an acrobat on a trapeze he quickly grabbed the rope, released a latch on the winch, and carefully feed more line in order to lower the cage.
Meanwhile, on the ground Sokka and Katara eased the snare down to the ground between them and together pulled the squeaky slats apart enough to make an exit. Momo immediately hopped out and jumped a few feet away before eating the nuts. Sokka and Katara released the snare, and Sokka groaned and slapped his forehead because Momo was happily eating the things that got it in trouble in the first place without showing any gratitude to them for saving him.
At that point Aang had jumped back down to join them, however as he landed he immediately looked back up (with Katara and Sokka following his example) in response to the pleading moans coming from the hog monkeys.
"All right" Aang said as he looked at them "you too."
(He then crouched before springing upwards in a spiraling column of wind that carried him up towards the branch that the Hog Monkeys where suspended from.
Meanwhile Sokka reached behind his back to get his boomerang while saying "This is gonna take forever." He then threw his boomerang in one fluid move sending it at the ropes that kept the monkeys suspended. The boomerang hit the ropes thus cutting them and causing the cages to fal to the ground.
Aang who had been closing in on the cages by hanging from the branch and crawling towards them looked down to the ground in response to them falling and the screams from the monkeys.
"That works." He stated as he saw Sokka's solution.
At that point the hog monkeys had left the cages (that had opened on impact), and retreated towards the trees. As Aang slid down the three to join the others Sokka went to the cages and examined them closely.
"These are Fire Nation traps" He stated "you can tell from the metalwork. We'd better pack up camp, and get moving."
Soon they where back at their camp and packing up their things but as Katara was handing her roll of gear to Aang (who was sitting on Appa head) Sokka exclaimed while walking towards them:
´"Ah-ah. no flying this time."
"What?" Katara asked in a shocked tone of voice
Aang hands the roll to Sokka, who puts it on the ground.
"Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang asked.
"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us." Sokka stated "It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable."
"What!" Katara exclaimed "Appa's not too noticeable!"
"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head" Sokka deadpanned "it's kinda hard to miss him!"
In response to his comment Appa turned his head to groan at him.
"Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow." Aang said gently while petting Appa's head.
"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk." Sokka stated, ignoring Aangs comment.
"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked fiercely.
"I'm not the boss" Sokka stated "I'm the leader."
At that point Aang was getting ready to say something but was cut off.
"You're the leader?" Katara asked incredulously "But your voice still cracks!"
"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior." Sokka stated in a high-pinched tone before forcing his voice to be deeper "So...I'm the leader!"
"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang." Katara stated "I mean, he is the Avatar."
"Aangs more of a teacher and protector than a leader" Sokka countered.
"I'm still the oldest and a ninja" Aang supplied, using Sokka's own arguments against him.
"Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?" Katara stated at them both before turning to Sokka and adding "I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl."
"I-I've kissed a girl" Sokka stated unconvincingly "you...just haven't met her."
"Who? Gran-gran?" Katara asked "I've met Gran-gran."
"No, besides Gran-gran." Sokka stated, still not convincing anyone. He then changed the subject "Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot and a leader has to trust his instincts."
"Okay, we'll try it your way Oh Wise Leader." Katara said, the title in a sarcastic tone.
After walking for a short while Aang decided that he should do some training as they walked.
"At least I'll get to train my branch jumping again" Aang said while getting ready to jump upwards.
"No branch jumping" Sokka stated "Since the fire nation is in the forest they might spot you if you travel through the treetops."
"Then what else can I do, I can't use my byakugan while walking since I need to focus to much to keep it stable." Aang complained
"Just ask Sokka's instincts, since they seems to have an answer to everything" Katara said.
"Ha ha." Sokka responded sarcastically "Very funny."
"And I still don't get why Appa couldn't carry the packs for us" Aang continued
"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while?" Katara asked with a smile "Sokka's Instincts!"
"That's a great idea!" Aang responded, going along with Katara's joke "Hey, Sokka's Instincts, would you mind"
"Okay, okay, I get it." Sokka replied in an annoyed tone "Look guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that" He went on as he pushed through some red-leafed bushes while turned towards Aang and Katara "we're safe from … the" At that point he turns to see what's on the other side of the bushes "Fire...Nation..."
What caused his halted speech was the fact that he had lead them straight into an occupied fire nation encampment made up of three Pavilion tents, and an active fire pit with logs as benches on two sides.
All the soldiers in the camp seem to have been taken by surprise by their sudden appearance (having been getting ready to eat, already eating or just finished eating and preparing for some training.)
"Run!" Sokka yells as he drops his backpack, an action the other two mirrored.
The soldiers quickly gets up in response and a soldier with an eye patch quickly firebends at them. They manage to dodge it, Sokka using Chakra to get him out of the way, but the fire hits the bushes in front of them cutting of their escape.
"We're cut off!" Sokka yells in a panic seeing as the soldiers had quickly moved to circle them in and the wall of fire making up the last part of their cage.
Aang, Katara and Sokka quickly moved to put their backs together and face the warriors, ready to fight if necessary.
"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you." Sokka said with false bravado.
"What are you doing?" Katara asked him quietly.
"Bluffing?" Sokka whispered back uncertainly.
The one eyed soldier, who judging from his stance was likely the captain, just smiled in response to Sokka's statement.
"You?" He asked, sounding like he was about to begin laughing "Promise not to hurt us?"
At that point Aang heard the zipping sound of something flying through the air followed by a thud as the hit something. The Captain looked surprised for a moment, before he groaned and collapsed face first on the ground, causing his men lower their weapons a little in surprise.
Aang immediately tried to look for the attacker, since he knew Sokka wasn't responsible.
"Look!" Katara yelled directing his attention to a nearby tree.
There he sees a person drop what Aang identified as a blowgun and then drew two hook blades from the middle of his back.. He stepped off the back of the branch holding his hook blades high, having them grab hold of the branch and swinging him forward allowing him to land on two of the fire nation soldiers knocking them to the ground.
At that point he stood still long enough for them to get a good look at him: The guy turned out to be a man around the same age as Sokka. Except for a red vest, he's dressed from neck to toe in dark green clothing. shoulder caps and hip/upper thigh covers that worked as his armor was mismatched. He had a shaggy mane of brown hair, and a twig held in his teeth.
Then he once again rushed forward with a blade held out to each side. When he reached two soldier he quickly hocked the blade on their feet before swinging them over his head and sending them towards where Aang and his friends stood, more precisely making them land on top of the captain.
"Down you go." The guy said as he landed on his feet.
Aang had to admit it was an awe-inspiring display, though he couldn't shake the feeling that the guy reminded him of someone, and not in a good way. Katara meanwhile looked really impressed, at not just with his skills from what Aang could see out of the corner of his eyes. Sokka meanwhile had a look of disbelief on his face.
At that point a soldier rushed up from behind the guy with his sword raised. The young man hooked his opponent's sword hand as he spun sending the soldier flying forward as the guy returned to his former stance.
At that point one of the soldiers spot something else. "They're in the trees!" He yelled trying to warn the other as a small boy drops from above to land on the soldiers shoulder before spinning his helmet around to blind him and causing him to begin to stagger about.
Before any of the other soldiers can come to his aid they get disarmed by arrows shot at them from above an hitting their weapons in order to knock them out of their hands.
The archer, who was sitting on a branch of another tree, reached for the quiver on his back to take out another two arrows that he fits to his bow before swinging backward, until he is hanging beneath the branch by his knees. He then takes aim at some other soldiers and let his arrows fly in order to knock the weapons from their hands.
Meanwhile another person dropped from a branch between two soldiers that had been focused on the archer. One of them noticed him and quickly ran towards him with his sword raised to stab the unarmed newcomer. The fighter quickly bend below the stab causing the soldier to fall across the fighters back as he raised himself up throwing the soldier onto a branch above him.
The second soldier was more cautious in his approach and instead tried to slash the fighter from a distance but the fighter dodged before moving in quickly to grab, spin and throw the soldier to the ground.
Meanwhile Katara guarded Aangs back from attacks while Aang caught two soldiers in an aircurrent and used it to pull them along the ground in a circle around them.
Sokka, boomerang raised in both hands, shouted a war cry and made a subtile move to catapult himself towards the soldier coming at him. He managed to hit the soldier back only to get kicked to the side by the guy with the hook blades.
"Hey, why did you kick me?" Sokka asked as he rolled back to his feet.
"Sorry, didn't think you'd jump at the guy" the fighter yelled before turning and rejoining the battle, slightly annoyed that his plan to take the glory from Sokka failed.
At that point a large fighter joined the fight by blocking two soldier escape route. The soldiers are intimidated by his size but still take a battle stance. The giant pulled a log from behind his and swings it at the soldiers who manage to block it with their swords. This, however, leaves their swords bend beyond use and the soldiers drop them before quickly running away.
Meanwhile the fighter with the hook blades faced of against an determined spearman. The man jabbed for his throat, but he caught the spearshaft with the hooks of his swords. They struggled for a moment, before Jet spun and sidestepped the spear. With one sword free, he used it to hook the soldier and send both him and his spear flying. The soldier's spear flew towards a nearby soldier but before it could connect the soldiers opponent, Sokka, managed to knock him down. This caused the spear to hit Sokka straight in the head knocking him backwards.
"Man that hurt" Sokka said while rubbing his face.
Another spearman attempted to strike the hook blade fighter from behind, but the fighter managed to catch the spearpoint in the space between the grip and the crescent-shaped guard of his sword and redirect it away from his head. The soldier quickly followed the spear, pushing it free before turning to face the fighter again, spinning his spear in his hand to intimidate his opponent before going in for another attack. The fighter is unimpressed as he quickly retook his stance and catching the speartip with his hooks this time and angles the spear into the ground. He then ran up it, leapt over the soldier before kicking of the back off his head. He then landed clumsily and stumbled a few steps forwards before coming to a stop right in front of Katara.
"Hey." He said nonchalantly as if he hadn't just nearly fallen over.
"Hi." Katara replied shyly before the both of them turned to survey the camp, which was now emptied of fire-nation Soldiers.
"Those were some impressive moves" Aang stated as he walked up to them with Sokka also joining from a different direction.
"Pfft. He wasn't very good at reading my moves though" Sokka stated "Unless he was actually trying to attack me"
"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters." The guy with the hook blades stated, ignoring Sokka jibe. "Sneers" He stated, indicating towards the quick fighter who hadn't used any weapons and who was currently busy eating some of the food left behind, "Longshot" He stated towards the archer who raised his paddy-hat covered head at his name. "Smellerbee" He said pointing at a repel red facepaint, knife between her teeth, a firenation sword across her back and two other swords, one in each of her hands (Aang instincts where telling him that it was a girl even though she looked like a boy). "The Duke and Pipsqueak." Jet ended the introduction pointing at the small boy who had been the first to join the fight and the giant who was the last to join in.
Aang couldn't help himself and quickly walked over to The Duke and Pipsqueak
"Pipsqueak" He stated as he arrived in front of them "that's a funny name." While making sure to not look at either of them.
The Duke (the small boy) sniffled slightly, due to having a runny nose, while pipsqueak bend down and glowered at him.
"You think my name is funny?" Pipsqueak said in a threatening tone.
Aang, realizing that they might not have the humour for his comment never the less plastered a smile on his face as he said "It's hilarious."
A moment later Pipsqueak couldn't keep a straight face any longer and started laughing soon followed by Aang and The Duke. Pipsqueak then went to try and slap Aangs back, but Aang, out of instinct, rolled forward and avoided it. Luckily The Duke managed to jump back to avoid getting a slap in the face, before they all continued laughing.
After they had calmed down the rebels started going about their tasks. Sneers started checking for cooking supplies and food near the camp fire. Longshot started checking his bow and arrows (He needed the most time to prepare if the soldiers returned). Smellerbee collected and sorted the weapons. Pipsqueak and The duke went to work searching the tent and any storage barrels or creates near them.
Aang and Sokka both observed them, though Sokka was mostly watching Katara as she walked over to Jet who was reclining against the trunk of a tree on the perimeter of the camp (Aang was also keeping an ear on her but was being much more subtle about it, not wanting Katara to think he was trying to interfere).
"Um...thanks for saving us Jet." Katara said shyly as she reached him "We were lucky you were there."
"I should be thanking you." Jet said nonchalantly "We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning" He further explained "we just needed the right distraction. And then you guys stumbled in."
"We were relying on instincts." Katara said bitterly while glancing at her brother.
"You'll get yourself killed doing that." Jet stated, glad for an opportunity to finally make a jibe at Sokka, seeing as his attempts to make him look bad in battle failed.
In response Sokka closed his eyes in frustration because he knew his choice had actually been the reason they had got into this mess.
Aang also agreed that it wasn't the best choice though he did realize that Sokka was probably right about Appa giving them away.
At that point Pipsqueak and the Duke were investigating the inside of a barrel next to one of the pavilion tents. The Duke reached in and scooped up some green goo from it. He then held it up to his nose and sniffed at it before looking towards Jet.
"Hey Jet" He yelled to get his attention "these barrels are filled with blasting jelly."
"That's a great score." Stated while smiling enthusiastically.
At that point Pipsqueak held up a large crate that had been right beside the barrels.
"And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!" He stated happily.
"Also good." Jet replied though not nearly as enthusiastically as before "Let's not get those mixed up."
At that point Aang, with Momo on his shoulders, starts walking to Pipsqueak and the Duke while Sneers joins them in loading up a four-wheeled wagon with the supplies they'd found.
"We'll take the stuff back to the hideout." The duke said while sitting on the wagon guiding the others and keeping inventory.
"So you guys have a hideout somewhere in the forest?" Aang asked, slightly interested.
"You wanna see it?" Jet asked casually.
"Yes we wanna see it!" Katara said as she slid up beside him, clasping her hand in a begging posture.
Even though Aang still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong about Jet, he didn't know enough to come up with a good reason not to see the hideout, so decided to go along with Katara's decision. He mostly went along with it because he knew it wasn't fair of him to ask her to be in a polygynous relationship and Katara seemed to be interested in Jet, therefore he didn't want to block her. Still he would keep an eye on Jet to make sure he wouldn't be a danger to Katara.
It wasn't long till everything had been put onto the wagon and Pipsqueak but in charge of taking it with them as Jet lead the way to their hideout.
After walking for about 15 minutes Jet said "We're here."
"Where" Sokka said while looking around "there's nothing here!"
"Hold this." Jet stated as he took a rope that had a loop at the end and handed it to Sokka. Aang noticed that the other end got filtered into a branch because of how Jet moved it, but didn't have time to say it because Sokka had already taken the rope at that point.
"Why" Sokka asked confused "what's this do?"
At that point a strong pull from the other end of the rope caused it to lock around Sokka's wrist before violently pulling him up into the trees (and causing him to scream as he traveled through the air), though he got momentarily stuck in the branches along the way.
"Aang?" Jet asked as he tried to hand him a rope like he did Sokka, also filtered into a branch.
"I'll get up on my own." Aang stated as Momo took flight, leaving Aangs shoulder. Aang quickly followed with a mixture of airbending leaps and treewalking.
He looked down to see Jet using a quick move to untangle the rope before turning to Katara and holding out a hand to her.
"Grab hold of me Katara." Jet said. Once she took it he quickly pulled her to him, spinning her along the way before holding her against his chest, causing her to blush. The rope is then pulled upward in a much more steady manner then what Sokka had experienced, likely because it hadn't been tangled in the branches.
At that point Aang broke to the canopy and Katara and Jet were blocked from view. He then looked around and saw multiple platforms surrounding the treetrunks with wooden stairs going higher up the trunks some ending at smaller platforms and some ending in tree houses, or more commonly tents placed on a wooden foundation. The bigger platforms were linked by rope bridges while some of the smaller ones had ropes that one could slide between them.
Just as he was done getting a first impression of the place Jet and Katara rose through a hole in the floor of one of the platforms.
"Nice place you got!" Aang yelled from the platform he had landed on before branch jumping to another platform closer to them to get another viewpoint and to be able to listen in. Meanwhile Jet and Katara surveyed the parts of the tree village below them.
"It's beautiful up here!" As she looked at everything below them.
"It's beautiful" Jet agreed "and more importantly the Fire Nation can't find us."
It was then that Smellerbee came in from below and landed by them.
"They would love to find you." She stated fiercely "Wouldn't they, Jet?"
"It's not gonna happen, Smellerbee." He said in a calm and self-assured voice.
He then started leading Katara, Sokka, and the main force of his freedom fighters along a rope bridge, Aang jumping along side them and listening in.
"Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" Katara asked curiously.
"I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble." Jet replied casually "See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back."
"We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em." Pipsqueak elaborated while Sokka was trying to see past him.
"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town." Jet stated confidently while smiling at Katara, though something about his words seemed hollow to Aang.
"That's so brave." Katara said, looking away but also smiling.
At that point Sokka managed to get past Pipsqueak and walked up to join them.
"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a treehouse." He said sarcastically.
"Don't pay any attention to my brother." Katara stated, annoyed by Sokka's butting in.
"No problem." Jet said casually "He probably had a rough day."
"So, you all live here?" Katara asked, changing the topic while Sokka fell back slightly
"That's right. Longshot over there?" Jet said while indicating towards Longshot's who had his head slightly bowed while walking beside the duke "His town got burned down by the fire Nation. And we found the Duke trying to steal our food. I don't think he ever really had a home."
"What about you?" Katara went on, since she really wanted to know more about him.
At that point Jet stopped and let the rest of the group pass them by, though Aang stayed within earshot, still not trusting the guy.
"Fire Nation killed my parents." Jet stated sadly while looking down "I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever."
"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation." Katara stated sadly.
"I'm so sorry, Katara." Jet responded as the two of them overlooked the treehouse village.
After a while the two continued on and soon reached a large platform that held a table that was being made ready for a banquet to celebrate the rebels win. Once everything was ready they all sat down and started eating and drinking.
Aang observed that ever since they'd reached the village Jet had stopped trying to outdo Sokka as he did before. He figured the change had occurred when Katara had called Sokka her brother, since before that he only knew they were from the same village, and likely saw Sokka as a potential rival. It was probably Aangs skills that had kept Jet from trying to do the same to him. He kept the observation to himself though; Katara wouldn't believe it and Sokka might get frustrated that his skills weren't good enough to make Jet back of on their own.
Aang snapped out of his mussing when Jet made a move to stand up
"Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Jet began as he stood up and climbed onto the table getting cheers from the other rebels around the table and a smile from Katara in response.
"Seeing you struck blows against me almost as much as them I'm not impressed" Sokka mumbled though only Aang and Katara heard him, Katara sending him a annoyed look and elbowing him.
"I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when the Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey." Jet stated with a self-satisfied smirk.
At that point the Duke (without his helmet as he had taken it of when they got seated) stood up from his place between Longshot and Smellerbee and joined Jet on the table. Then, amid the cheers from the rebel took a victory walk around a fish platter.
"Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees." He said as he prepared to take a drink from his wooden cup "Maybe they're right."While the rebels booed at that sentiment Jet drank a little. "Or maybe" Jet continued "they are dead wrong."
Aang didn't like the way Jet stressed the word dead, but since no one else seemed inclined to comment on it he didn't comment. He also realized that he may have imagined it. Meanwhile the other rebels started to cheer wildly in response to the speech.
Jet meanwhile moved towards Aang and his friends making Katara move over to make room and forcing Aang to do the same.
"Hey Jet, nice speech." She said as Jet reached them and took the now open spot between Katara and Sokka.
"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang." He stated "That was some great bending I saw out there today."
"Well, he's great. He's the Avatar." Katara stated shyly "I could use some more training." She then blushed slightly both because of Jet being there and because she had complemented Aang like that with him sitting beside her.
"Avatar huh?" Jet said thoughtfully, though his eyes seemed to narrow almost unnoticeable. "Very nice."
"Thanks Jet." Aang stated politely, though still on guard.
"So I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle." Jet stated, but didn't get any further in his explanation.
"Unfortunately we have to leave tonight." Sokka stated before standing up and beginning to walk away
"Sokka, you're kidding me!" Jet said in a sad voice (though Aang thought it sounded fake) "I needed you on an important mission tomorrow."
Aang wondered whether Jet tempted Sokka with a mission only to get them to stay longer or if it was also a peace offering for the earlier attacks.
If nothing else he succeeded in the former as Sokka immediately stopped and turned before asking "What mission?"
The next day Aang sent a clone along with Jet, Pipsqueak, Smellerbee and Sokka, though neither of them where aware of its presence as it kept out of sight.
Once they reached some large trees along a path through the forest Jet stopped and signaled for the others to go into some of the trees further down the road while he lead Sokka into the one nearest their location.
Aangs clone went into another tree a bit of the road but close enough to allow him to see and hear Jet and Sokka along with most of the road.
Once Jet had given the others time to get into position he cupped his hand and whistle in a way that sounded a little like a bird. This made Pipsqueak and Smellerbee stepped into view before returning the whistle, indicating that they where ready.
At that point Sokka rammed his jawbone knife into the trunk of the tree.
"What are you doing?" Jet asked annoyed, having been startled by the sound.
"Shh" Sokka replied while moving his ear towards the pommel. "it amplifies vibrations."
"Good trick." Jet said, impressed.
Sokka then cupped his hands around the pommel just as his ear reached it. He then looked towards the tree Aang was in, but once he saw who it was he ignored it.
"Nothing yet." He said before gaining a look of concentration and lowering his voice "Wait! Yes, someone's approaching."
"How many?" Jet asked in a low voice.
"I think there's just one." Sokka replied toughtfully.
Jet immediately turned and whistled to the other before looking back at Sokka "Good work, Sokka." He stated "Ready your weapon."
Sokka pulled the knife out of the tree and waited. His eyes went wide, however when he saw that the person he'd just warned Jet about turned out to be an old man wearing a red robe and using a cane.
"Wait! False alarm" Sokka said in a low voice "he's just an old man."
Jet, ignoring Sokka, stood up and extended his hook blades as he leaped to the ground right in front of the traveler to both Sokka's and the clones horror. Sokka not acting because of shock and the clone not acting because it was meant to stay hidden. It would only step in if the old man was in danger. It did however henge itself to look like a earth nation soldier in case it needed to step in.
"What are you doing in our woods, you leech." Jet said angrily he straightened up after his landing.
"Please sir, I'm just a traveler." The old man said fearfully as he started backing away.
Jet took a step forward and with a swipe of his sword send the old man's cane flying from his hand. The old man continued to back away (though hampered by the lack of his cane), but when he tried to turn away and flee back the way he came he ran face first into Pipsqueak's chest. The force of the impact knocked him to the ground while Pipsquak loomed over him. He turned and tried to crawl away, but Pipsqueak's put a foot on his backside effectively pinning him down.
"Do you like destroying towns?" Jet said angrily as he bend over the pinned old man, one of his swords held close to the old man's face, though not close enough to risk damaging it "Do you like destroying families? Do you?!"
"Oh. please let me go" The old man said haltingly, fright clear in his voice "have mercy."
"Does the Fire Nation let people go?!" Jet asked angrily in response "Does the Fire Nation have mercy?!"
Jet pulled back is leg, getting ready for a kick. The only thing that stopped Aang's clone from interfering was that Sokka was already there. Sokka used his club to snag Jet's foot forcing him to concentrate on keeping his balance.
"Jet, he's just an old man!" Sokka said while Jet regained his balance and freed his foot from the club.
"He's Fire Nation!" Jet said angrily as he went up to Sokka "Search him!" He said to the other two.
Pipsqueak quickly pulled up the old man, holding him so the Smellerbee could seach him.
"But he's not hurting anyone!" Sokka argued.
"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother?" Jet said, still standing right in front of Sokka "Remember why you fight."
"We've got his stuff, Jet." Smellerbee cut in, holding up the shoulder satchel the old man was carrying.
"This doesn't feel right." Sokka said, looking at the old man kneeling in front of Pipsqueak.
"It's what has to be done" Jet stated while putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "now let's get outta here." He continued using the hand to push Sokka aside. Pipsqueak and Smellerbee immediately followed while Sokka looked at the old man who was on his hands and knees.
"Come on Sokka!" Jet said again, causing Sokka to turn and run after them.
Once they left Aang's clone (after dropping its henge) jumped down from his tree walked over to the old man, picking up his cane along the way.
"Here's your cane" He said as he reached him, bending down and helping the old man get back to his feet.
"Thank you" The old man said quietly as he regained his footing. "Who are you?" He then asked.
"Someone who agrees with Sokka about this type of action not being acceptable." Aang's clone replied cryptically, not wanting there to be a rumor that the Avatar was in the forest, though the fact that he'd dropped the henge hadn't been a smart move in that regards. "Can you get back to the village on your own?"
"Yes, I think so" the old man replied while pressing down on each leg individually to make sure that they weren't damaged by the rebels.
"That's good, because I don't have much time left" Aang's clone said as he turned and ran out of sight before dispelling, wanting Aang to know what happened before Jet returned.
Aang had just gotten a satchel of exploding pellets from the Duke when the memories from his clone hit him, making him less inclined to play around with them.
Aang managed to sneak a clone into Jet's room without anyone noticing, and had it henge to hide itself. He then started swinging around the ziplines, pretending to have fun, though really keeping an eye on everything that was going on, while waiting for Sokka and the others to return. He didn't think that his claim alone would be enough to convince Katara though, so he decided to wait with telling her.
Once he saw them return he waited a little while longer before zipping down to Sokka (who was sitting with his back against the tree that held the treehouse they were staying in), landing in front of him and stating in a low voice "I'm going to pretend that I wasn't with you guys today and pretend that I'm supportive of Jet. That way I might be able to learn something if he has some defence for attacking that old guy." He then backed away slightly, "I'm telling you that you have to see what the Duke gave me Sokka" He stated, in a louder voice, knowing it would draw out Katara and allow Sokka to say his piece.
At that point he pulled one of the pellets out of the satchel before throwing one of them slightly in front of Momo. Momo got slightly shocked by the small explosion puffing up like a startled cat before growling and lunging for the satchel. He grabbed some pellet and crawled up onto Aang's shoulder before throwing the pellets at his feet, forcing Aang to perform a weird dance to avoid them.
"Ow!" Aang yelled in response "Quit it!"
As that was happening Katara had come down from the tent/house and was walking towards Sokka.
"Hey Sokka." She stated as he drew near "Is Jet back?"
"Yeah" Sokka stated angrily "he's back. But we're leaving."
"What?" Aang said, playing dump.
"But I made him this hat." Katara stated, holding up a cap made out of stitched leaves with a flower on top. Aang managed to keep a straight face, though he had a hard time due to the hat definitely not being a masterpiece.
"Your boyfriend Jet's a thug." Sokka stated, still with anger in his voice.
"What?" Katara said in shock "No, he's not." She went on, though Aang wasn't sure if she was responding to the boyfriend or the thug bit.
"He's messed up Katara." Sokka responded, believing her disagreement to be about the latter. Before Katara collected her wits to respond he continued. "He beat and robbed a harmless old man"
"I wanna hear Jet's side of the story." Katara stated simply before turning and leading them towards Jet's tent.
"Sokka" Jet asked after Katara had asked him whether it was true that he beat up an old man, "you told them what happened but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?"
Jet was sitting on his bed, looking a little annoyed, an expression mirrored by Katara as she turned and glared at Sokka.
"No, he conveniently left that part out." Katara said, her voice dripping with sarcasm at the 'conveniently' part.
"Fine!" Sokka replied in a annoyed and slightly angry voice "But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian"
"He was an assassin, Sokka." Jet stated. Aang just barely managed to stop himself from rising his eyebrows at that story.
Jet then pulled out a knife and thrust it into a block of wood nearby wood block. It was quite sinister looking There are four spikes evenly spaced along the grip with enough space for fingers to go between them and a curved blade. There was also a ring on the butt of the knife.
"See?" Jet stated as he started turning the ring "There's a compartment for poison in the knife". He pulled on the ring and removed a small glass tube filled with red liquid. "He was sent to eliminate me" He said closing his eyes "you helped save my life, Sokka."
"I knew there was an explanation" Katara stated in relief.
Meanwhile Aang was having a lot of trouble keeping his cover. First of a knife of that size would have been hard to conceal, and even then Sokka or his clone should have seen Smellerbee remove it. There was also the fact that Jet had been beating the guy up before having any kind of proof that the guy was out to assassinate him, meaning that at the time he should have been open to the possibility of him being a harmless old man, making his defense invalid. While it was okay to be suspicious without proof, one should always have some before attacking.
"I didn't see any knife!" Sokka stated simply.
"That's because he was concealing it." Jet responded.
"See Sokka?" Katara said, as if everything had been resolved "I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife."
"There was no knife!" Sokka stated angrily since Katara was basically taking a strangers words over his "I'm going back to the hut and packing my things." He then stated before he turned and left.
"Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet." Jet said pleadingly "I really need your help."
"What can we do?" Aang asked curiously, hoping to find out what Jet was planing.
"The Fire Nation is planning on burning down our forest." Jet stated "If you both use water bending to fill the reservoir, we could fight the fires. But if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley."
Aang and Katara each looked at each other. Aang had to admit that based on what happened with Hei-Bai forest but something about it seemed of. Still he stayed and listened to Jet's explanation before following her back to their hut were Sokka was busy packing up their things.
"We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" Katara said fiercely interrupting his packing.
"I'm sorry Katara." Sokka stated simply "Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him."
"You know what I think?" Katara said angrily "You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader!"
"That's a little hash Katara" Aang stated before Sokka could respond. "Sokka is right to be distrustful of the guy since that knife was never brought up during the time Jet was beating the old guy, meaning that his defense for attacking him is shady."
"Now your just taking Sokka's side because you know I like the guy" Katara said even angrier than before. "If you two are going to let jealousy get in the way of protecting this forest then you can just leave without me." She then turned and left the hut quickly.
Aang quickly made a clone to follow her to ensure she didn't alert Jet to the fact that both Sokka and Aang were against him.
Once the clone left he turned to Sokka. "I don't know what he wants with the water but I don't think it's about extinguishing fires. Since he wants me and Katara start filling it early tomorrow it's likely that he'll set up whatever he's planned sometime tonight or very early tomorrow before we get up." He stated "Therefore we need to be on guard for when they make their move and then wake Katara and sneak after them to show her what Jet is really like."
"So we need to take turns being awake" Sokka concluded "If this plan leads to a fight, and my instincts are telling me that it will, then we can't have gone all night without sleep."
"Okay, then I'll take the first shift" Aang stated.
It was during Sokka's shift that the rebels made their move.
"Let's go." He heard Jet's voice say. He quickly got up and shook Aang before going to the flab of the door and looking outside to see some of Jet's followers descending down the rope lines. He quickly looked back and saw Aang creating a clone while trying to wake up Katara and then jumped out the hut and grabbing one of the ropes to get onto a lower branch, joined moments later by Aangs clone.
"You follow them on the ground, I'll follow along through the trees and leave clones for the boss and Katara to follow" The clone stated in a low voice, as they observe the rebels start to push a loaded wagon away quietly, clearly not wanting to alert anyone of their leaving.
Sokka nodded in agreement; The trees were probably a better choice for the clone, and it couldn't take him along since it needed to make clones so carrying him would cost valuable time and could make them lose sight of the rebels. Sokka used another robe to get down onto the ground and started sneaking after Jet, while Aangs clone started jumping quietly along the branches, using his ninja instincts to find the most stable ones that would make the least sound.
Meanwhile Aang had just managed to wake up Katara causing her to look out the window and seeing that it was still dark outside. After that she turned and glared at Aang "Why are you waking me this early." She asked, annoyance clear in her voice.
"There's something you need to see right now." Aang stated as he turned away from her before getting down on a knee and spreading his arms slightly, indicating that he wanted her to get on his back "Get on and be as quiet as you can. I know you don't have much faith in my words right now, but at least trust me on this." He continued.
While Katara was slightly weary of Aang because of him insulting Jet, she still trusted him, so she quickly climbed onto his back.
Once she was secured Aang jumped outside but was careful not to move to quickly or roughly as Katara had never been transported like this before. It took some time for him to catch up to them but managed to reach them just as the rebels reached their destination, a cliff overlooking a dam and (downstream from the dam) a earth nation town. At that point the sun was slowly rising in the horizon.
Jet went to look over the edge of the cliff, focusing his eyes on the dam and the fact that the reservoir on the other side is empty before turning back to the other rebels.
"Now listen" He stated seriously "you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive." Aang managed to use a hand to cover Katara's mouth, muffling her gasp.
At that point the Duke jumped of the wagon "But what about the people in the town" He asked in concern "won't they get wiped out too?"
Jet walked up to him and placed a hand on the Duke's shoulder.
"Look Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation." He stated before turning to Longshot "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal. got it?" He asked, getting a nod in return.
Aang and Katara in the tree and Sokka on the ground had all been so focused on the exchange that they hadn't noticed that Smellerbee and Pipsqueak had broken of from the rest and closed in on Sokka. The only warning Sokka got was a rustling of the bushes before Pipsqueak grabbed his onto his ponytail and lifted him up allowed Smellerbee to hold a knife to his throat, preventing him from effectively fighting back. His sounds of pain drew the attention of Aang and Katara, but kept his hand of Katara's mouth and signaled for her to stay quiet. At that point Sokka would end up as a hostage if the rebels became aware of their presense.
"Where do you think you're going, ponytail?" Smellerbee asked Sokka with a sneer.
Pipsqueak then grabbed one of Sokka's arms (while he also kept his grip on the ponytail) while Smellerbee put away her knife before grabbing the other and the two of them started dragging Sokka into the clearing near the cliff where Jet was standing.
"Sokka. I'm glad you decided to join us." Jet stated as they drew near.
Smellerbee and Pipsqueak turned Sokka around before pushing him to his knees. Sokka started rubbing the shoulder that Pipsqueak had been holding on to to get the blood flowing back into his arm.
"I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town." Sokka stated glaring up at Jet while slowly getting to his feet.
"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation." Jet corrected him.
"There are people living there Jet" Sokka stated pleadingly "mothers and fathers and children."
"We can't win without making some sacrifices." Jet responded.
"You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!" Sokka stated while point accusingly at Jet, seeing as the other argument wasn't leading anywhere
"Because they don't understand the demands of war." Jet stated condescendingly "Not like you and I do."
At that point Aang noticed that Katara was looking like someone who had just swallowed something slimy and disgusting. Then he remembered that his clone had witnessed her giving Jet a kiss earlier and thought that was likely the reason for it.
"I do understand." Sokka responded, cutting of Aangs train of thought "I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want."
Aang immediately went alert, in case Jet reacted badly to that rejection.
"I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice." Jet said threateningly. Halfway through the sentence Aang had jumped from the tree he was in onto a branch of another tree nearby, using it as a springboard to dive at Jet.
Pipsqueak and Smellerbee grabbed for Sokka causing him to try and dodge but Jet was blocking his way forward. That changed when Aang crashed into Jet clearing the way for Sokka to roll forward and avoid the other two.
Meanwhile Katara used water-bending to create a water board and combined it with the tree-walking exercise to slide quickly down the trunk of the tree and onto the ground. When she reached it she saw that Smellerbee had pulled out her knife again and was closing in on Sokka. Katara quickly created a waterwhip to disarm Smellerbee and to hit Pipsqueak into a tree causing both to shift their focus onto her.
At that point Jet had gotten back up and was glaring at Aang as he picked up his two hook blades.
"I didn't expect you to come here too." Jet said in an annoyed tone. "Sokka seemed suspicious of us but you and Katara didn't seem to have anything against us."
"Sometimes you have to look beneath the underneath" Aang stated, using a proverb from his village to taunt Jet "I never trusted you, I pretended to in order to get you to lower your guard."
Aang felt someone approach from behind and using Airbending to take to the air managed to dodge Sneers who had tried to grab him from behind. Aang then kicked the back of Sneers heard causing him to stumble forward though Jet managed to support him preventing him from falling over.
At the same time Sokka noticed Longshot getting ready to take a shot at Aang so he quickly threw his boomerang, hitting Longshots bow and causing his shot to almost hit the Duke instead, which caused both of them to turn to Sokka.
Aang, seeing that that fighting was going to be crowded if all stayed in the same area jumped into a tree, and after looking back and seeing Jet swing himself into another tree nearby while Sneers started following along the ground, jumped further into the forest.
Katara also started leading Smellerbee and Pipsqueak into the forest in another direction, using water whips to keep them from shifting their focus.
Sokka's fight:
Sokka dodge an arrow from Longshot and was about to throw his boomerang at him when he saw the Duke moving in from the side holding a staff ready to strike. Sokka turner and used the boomerang to block, only to be forced to duck and roll sideways in order to avoid to arrows fired by Longshot.
Once Sokka came out of the roll he glared at Longshot before being forced to jumped to the side to dodge an overhead swing by the Duke. As he landed he swing his boomerang and swung it down on the Dukes staff (that had been hit into the ground when Sokka dodged) and managed to break it in half, taking away some of his range. Sokka was then forced to jump away again as four arrows hit the area between him and the Duke. This gave the Duke time to pick up the two pieces of his staff.
Using them the Duke started to take swings at Sokka, though they where a lot less coordinated. Sokka easily jumped over or ducked under the swings. As Sokka was dodging he noticed that Longshot stopped interfering and skimmed at him only to see him setting fire to an arrow and getting ready to fire it at Sokka. Sokka then remembered the wagon with explosives and when Longshot fired his arrow Sokke used his boomerang to reflect it into the wagon before jumping to the ground as it exploded, the force of which threw the Duke backwards and knocked Longshot out of his tree.
Aang's fight:
Aang had managed to lead his to pursuers into a clearing when Jet finally cut up to him. Jet grabbed a branch with his swords and managed to swing himself into Aangs side, causing him to tumble to the forest floor but before he could hit it he was kicked into a tree-trunk by Sneers.
Jet jumped down from above with his hook-blades ready to strike Aang, but Aang managed to regain his barrings and quickly made a substitution causing Jets hook-blades to dig into a log instead.
"What the …" Jet exclamed as he landed in the clearing next to Sneers before kicking the log of his blades.
"To slow" Aang said from a branch right next to where Jet had just hit the log.
He hoped that they would think that he had just blocked them and moved to the branch without them noticing (though they would wonder where the log came from) rather then figuring that he had replaced himself with a log. He was still trying to limit the use of his ninja abilities, at least those that couldn't be mistaken for bending skills of physical abilities.
Aang then started running down the tree, arms out to the side and slightly behind. Once he reached the forest floor he was immediately forced to duck under one of Jet's hook-blades before rolling to the side to dodge a low kick from Sneer. As he ended the roll and was beginning to straighten up he found his foot caught by one of Jets blades and he was quickly pulled into a split.
"To slow" Jet shot back through gritted teeth.
Aang managed to push back of the ground but was forced to cross his arms in front of his chest to minimize the impact of a kick that came from Sneer that threw him back a couple of feet. Aang quickly managed to regain his footing and jumped forward towards Sneers, using airbending both to increase his speed and to supplement the punch. Jet was moving to intercept the attack when the sound of an explosion tore through the air distracting him and allowing Aangs attack to hit an equally distracted Sneers sending him full force into a nearby tree and knocking him out.
The sound of Sneers hitting the tree allowed Jet to regain his focus on the fight and he therefore managed to jump back to avoid an airblast Aang sent his way. Aang quickly followed up his first attack with two air punches that knocked Jet back and caused him to bend over slightly. Aang then made a spinning jump to send another blast at him from above knocking him to the ground where Aang landed on him and bended his blades away from him.
Jet ,however, wasn't done; he rolled over, sending Aang of him, and scrambled to his feet. Aang send another airblast at him before he managed to straighten up sending him headfirst into a tree. Aang then got up to check on the both Jet and Sneers before binding the two together with some rope that Sneers had been carrying. He then threw the end of the rope over a branch and used it to hoist the two into the air before securing them to a nearby tree.
He then jumped into the trees to go look for Katara and Sokka and see whether they where in trouble.
Katara's figth:
Katara had managed to lead her pursuers into an area where she would have the advantage; a stream running through the forest (A/N: Same place where she froze Jet in cannon.). Her biggest problem was that along the way she and her pursuers had come by a fallen tree that had been just the right size for Pipsqueak to use as a club so when she threw a waterblast at him he managed to block the water with it.
Smellerbee had run a little up the stream and jumped over it before storming towards Katara with her blades held high. Katara managed to create a wall of ice to block her advance, but was then almost crushed under Pipsqueak's log, just barely managing to sidestep it and the air forced out by the attack still managed to knock her backwards slightly. Pipsqueak, who had stepped into the stream to attack Katara, quickly got up on the other side, but when Katara saw the water he had splashed onto the shore she quickly took a deep breath before blowing steadily at it causing it to freeze to ice, so that when Pipsqueak stepped onto it he slipped and fell onto his butt right in front of Smellerbee who had just cut through the wall of ice.
Using the distraction Katara managed to regain a more steady footing, but before she could counterattack an explosion pulled her attention away from the fight and towards where it occurred. When she realized that it came from the cliff where Sokka was fighting she began to worry whether anything had happened to him and she therefore almost didn't notice that Smellerbee and Pipsqueak was closing in on her.
She managed to notice at the last second and ducked under Pipsqueak's attempt to grab her only to be forced to roll to the side to prevent her legs from being skewered on Smellerbee's blades. The roll ended with her laying the stream where she quickly bended to globs of water at her opponent's knocking Pipsqueak back a step while Smellerbee was knocked to the ground.
She then used waterbending to form a wave beneath her to held her quickly stand up before once more blowing her icy breath at the two causing ice to coat them. However the layer that covered pipsqueak was to thin and he just shook his body slightly to cause it to break of, before bending down and freeing Smellerbee from her ice. Still it managed to distract them long enough for Katara to return to the shore on the opposite side of the stream where she would have a more stable footing.
Before she could start attacking the two others she had to twist and turn to avoid some throwing knifes flying at her head, shoulder and stomach. She managed to completely avoid the first two knife while the third only managed to create a tear in her dress. She then rose a wave of water up in front of her in order to block another three knifes thrown by Smellerbee. She then expelled the wave at her opponents, but Pipsqueak managed to block most of the force with his log.
"You can't beat us" Smellerbee stated in her raspy voice while glaring at Katara and picking up her swords. "It won't be long before the others beat your brother and your monk boyfriend and come to help us"
"Yeah, Jet won't have any trouble finding us once he's finished with the other" Pipsqueak agreed while holding the log protectively in front of him.
"I don't feel like I've been beat" A voice from a tree behind Katara stated, causing all three people to turn around an see Sokka coming around the tree. Only Katara stood at the right angle to see the Duke and Longshot bound together laying behind the tree.
"Don't know how you managed to get away from Longshot" Smellerbee stated "But it doesn't really matter, we'll just take care of both of you."
"Yeah sure, your really convincing seeing as you couldn't even handle Katara when she was on her own" Sokka stated "Now that she has help you won't stand a chance."
Suddenly Katara and Sokka saw two blasts of air coming from behind Pipsqueak, hitting the log and sending it flying out of his hands, as his way of holding it only worked well on attacks coming from the front. Katara and Sokka where forced to duck under the log as it flew straight at them.
"Sorry about that" Aang stated from behind Smellerbee and Pipsqueak, "didn't fly the way I intended it to."
"It's okay Aang." Katara stated "The important thing is that it's out of his hands."
She then raised another wave of water at blasted it at her opponents; While pipsqueak still managed to stay standing Smellerbee was knocked backwards into a three and knocked out cold.
Pipsqueak figured he wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the stream to attack Sokka or Katara (without Katara bending the water to stop him) so instead he turned around and started charging at Aang who started jumping backwards to avoid him. He managed to jump back three times before he accidentally hit a firenation trap which catapulted him into the air in an iron cage. At the same time Pipsqueak stepped onto another one that was right beside it.
Katara and Sokka, who had been following behind the two quickly lowered Aang and freed him from the trap. They also lowered Pipsqueak's cage but only after they had tied up Smellerbee and pulled over Longshot and the Duke. They then lead all of the rebels to the clearing where Aang had left Jet and Sneers hanging. When they reached it they saw Jet and Sneers swinging back and forth trying to make either break the branch or make the rope wear down to the point where it would break.
Aang took one of the throwing knife from Smellerbee and threw it at the rope causing the two to fall to the ground. Before the could get their barrings Aang went over and sat on them. Since they where still tied up their movements where limited enough to not really cause Aang any trouble.
"You're all fools" Jet ground out through his clenched teeth, addressing Aang, Katara and Sokka. "We could've freed this valley!"
"Who would be free" Sokka stated "everyone would be dead."
"You're just traitors" Jet replied, not really being able to mention anyone that would be free.
"No, Jet." Sokka said "You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."
"Katara. Please" Jet said, changing tactics and trying to manipulate her "help me."
"I doubt she has any desire to help you" Aang stated as he pulled out his bison whistle and blew into it. "You just tried to murder children, not something most people would want to support."
His words had a chilling effect of quite a few of the freedom fighter as they realized what they had actually been part of. They had thought of the villagers as just faceless middle-aged people who had given up the fight and allowed the fire-nation to take over, rather then thinking of them as mothers, fathers and children.
Jet however didn't show any regret, only anger and humiliation at his plan being thwarted.
"Goodbye Jet." Katara stated as Appa landed behind her and she and the other two climbed onto the saddle, leaving Pipsqueak to free the others if he felt like it.
Sokka climbed up to take Appa's reigns and gave them a flick while saying "Yip yip." making Appa take of into the sky.
"Good idea blowing up the explosives" Aang stated after each had shared the story of how they defeated their opponent's "It gave you the edge in the battle and took away their ability to try that plan again anytime soon."
"I didn't even think that far" Sokka admitted "It was pure instinct, I guess. Goes to show that my instincts can be right sometimes" He added.
"Um...Sokka?" Aang said suddenly noticing something about their current course "You know we're going the wrong way, right?"
"Though they're wrong sometimes too." He stated after recovering from his surprise, a grin coming to his face. He then pulled Appa's reigns in order to make it turn around and fly the opposite direction.
AN
Why I'll stop posting on this site:
Unlike what many may think my main reason for no longer wanting to post on this site isn't because of the mass deletion of stories a couple months ago, though it is a factor. My reason is the way I experienced the mods dealing with the complaints, which to me seemed to be by ignoring their existence. The only official reaction that I saw was them pointing to their TOS and rating system, which for me wasn't enough. First of the description of the rating is so vague that depending on the personal opinions of the mods almost any fic that has a semi detailed battle scene could fall under the MA rating and therefore be deleted ("Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA"). The site also hasn't bothered explaining why they don't want to add an MA rating that would either have an additional warning or require an account before it could be read. Without them stating their reasons all anyone can do is make assumptions, and my assumptions is that their just to lazy to make it, just like they don't bother dealing with complaints about stories until it exceed a certain amount.
To clarify: My problem isn't that they deleted stories but the way the seemed to ignore most of the complaints and that they failed to address the underlying issues
The way I see it if I keep posting on this site I will be condoning the fact that they ignore users complaints, which is something I refuse to do. I may be misreading the situation, but it's better to come back to this site after being proven wrong then it is to stay on this site knowing I may be right.
Rewrite:
Since I will have to repost the story on a new site anyway (yourfanfiction is the site I'm planning on reposting the story), I will take the opportunity to rewrite the story at the same time. This means that you shouldn't expect to see the story come up right away, though hopefully it won't be to long. The storyline will mostly remain the same, though some changes will be made to accommodate new cannon information, so most of the changes will be in chapter 1. The rest will be more about trying to find and correct spelling and gramma mistakes. If someone would like to help by beta'ing some chapters feel free to drop me a PM.
Poll:
The poll to chose the last girl in Aangs harem will remain on this site so if you haven't already you voted you can find the poll on my profile.
here...