Ryuu's POV:
"Absolutely not! The Yuyan archers stay here." Colonel Shinu refused. "Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."
"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider. Their precision is legendary. The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred miles away without killing it. You're wasting their talents, using them as mere security guards." Zhao paused. I watched from the shadows as one archer split a previous arrow in two. I know, I know… I should have better things to do than stalk Commander Zhao. I would have better things to do, except that Zuko had snuck off the ship. I was heading to my room and I noticed that his door was open. When I went to close it, I noticed that Zuko wasn't there. There were three masks lying on his bed. I recognized them from the play Love Amongst the Dragons.
I really loved the mask of the Dragon Emperor, Noren, so I tried it on. I didn't mean to snoop, but I kind of wondered why he had an assortment of masks from Love Amongst the Dragons. I wondered if he had anymore, so I kind of searched his room. I didn't find anything, except for this really cool ninja uniform. After I changed into it, I thought I might see how stealthy I could be. I decided to go to Colonel Shinu's base, cause Zhao was there.
"I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers and what I say goes." Colonel Shinu argued.
"But my search for the avatar is-"
"Is nothing but a vanity project! We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got, commander!" Shinu stated.
"But-" Zhao's efforts to convince Shinu were futile.
"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it!" Shinu snapped. I snickered. Tough luck, Zhao, but it looks like- I froze when I heard the shriek of a hawk. I looked up to see a messenger hawk flying towards Shinu. He opened the message and his eyes widened.
"News from Fire Lord Ozai?" Zhao snatched the paper out of his hands and skimmed over it. He snickered. "It appears I've been promoted to admiral. My request… is now an order." Shinu responded by bowing to Zhao before he walked away. What? Admiral? Like he deserves such a position! Why don't you just slap a crown on my head and call me Earth King while you're at it? I thought before angrily turning around. I froze when I came face to face with another masked ninja. Who'd a thunk that another masked ninja would be spying on Zhao. This ninja was wearing a mask of the Dark Water Spirit, another mask from Love Amongst the Dragons. That's when I realized that the only mask that I hadn't seen in Zuko's room was the Dark Water Spirit mask.
I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of it. The last thing I wanted was to be discovered by Zhao. The other ninja and I left soundlessly and wordlessly. He didn't say anything until we were back in his room.
"Why did you follow me?" Zuko asked.
"I didn't follow you. I just felt like stalking Zhao." I explained. "And if you're going to sneak away in a ninja costume, at least bother shutting the door before you go!" I chastised. Zuko glared at me.
"And GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" He hollered, shoving me out and slamming the door behind him. I smirked because I was still wearing the mask and ninja costume. Yay, now I get to keep it!
Tikaani's POV:
"You know what I love about Appa the most? His sense of humor!" Sokka mumbled. He began to sweat and I shivered. So this is what it feels like to be delusional? I thought in my last moments of sanity. I can't wait! I started to shiver more violently. I swear I was shivering so bad that my brain had turned to liquid and was now oozing out my ears. I crossed and uncrossed my eyes, fathoming at how my vision was getting so in and out of focus.
"That's nice." Katara stated sweetly. "I'll tell him."
"I bet you wouldn't think me funny if I threw you off a cliffside." Appa roared indignantly. Sokka and I both began to laugh.
"Classic Appa!" We cheered. I snorted a little.
"How are Sokka and Tikaani doing?" Aang worried.
"Not good. Being out in that storm really did a number on them." Katara explained. She placed cold cloths onto our heads. I shivered and sweated at the same time. My eye twitched.
"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea." Aang confessed. "But I found a map. There's an herbalist institute on the top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka and Tikaani there."
"Aang, these two are in no condition to travel!" Katara protested. "They just need more rest. I'm sure they'll be better by tomorrow." She smiled, but a bout of coughing soon came over her.
"Not you too!" Aang mused sorrowfully.
"Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi-" Katara was interrupted by another, more severe bout of coughing. She moaned afterwards.
"That's how they started yesterday! Now look at them! Sokka thinks he's an earthbender and Tikaani thinks she's in love with Zuko!"
"Take that you rock!" Sokka grumbled as he tried to earthbend.
"Wherefore art thou Zuko?" I cried. As long as I'm delusional, I might as well confess my love.
"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too." Aang added. "I'm going to find some medicine!" Aang opened his glider and walked towards the edge of the building. Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Maybe it's safer if I go on foot. Keep an eye on them, guys." Aang said to Appa and Momo. The two of them roared.
"Why must you condemn us to this suffering?" They asked.
"Oh, you guys are killing me!" Sokka laughed. I vaguely wondered if he was hearing different things than I was.
Ryuu's POV:
"We haven't been able to pick up the avatar's trail since the storm." I stated as I pointed at the map. We were strategizing in the helmsman's peak. Neither of us said a word about what had happened the previous evening. "But if we continue heading northeast-" I stopped as a shadow passed over the map. Looking out the window I saw a huge ship. Zhao. I sneered, remembering my last run in with the brain dead admiral.
"What do they want?" Zuko sneered.
"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!" Iroh cheered.
"I don't think they want to play a game." I muttered. Five of Zhao's guards stormed onto our ship and into the helmsman's peak. One of the guards pulled out a wanted poster of the avatar.
"The hunt for the avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the avatar must be reported to Admiral Zhao." The guard informed.
"Zhao's been promoted? Well good for him!" Iroh congratulated. I rolled my eyes. I respect Iroh and all, but why does he have to be so kind to that deluded hog monkey?
"I've got nothing to report to Zhao." Zuko growled. "Now get off my ship, and let us pass!" He ordered.
"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The guard stated firmly. I knew that Zuko was going to lose his cool.
"Off my ship!" He stormed. The guard nodded before calmly leaving with the rest of them. I glared after them. Not letting us pass?Is Zhao afraid we'll get in the way of his plans again?
"Excellent! I take the put!" Iroh cheered as he cleared the Pai Sho board. "But you are all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again." Iroh convinced. I had to chuckle. No one could beat Iroh; I've tried and failed.
"I'm going down to the deck." Zuko grunted before leaving the room. I watched him go. I wanted to follow him, but decided against it. He needed to blow of some steam. About an hour later, Iroh walked up to me.
"Let's go talk to Prince Zuko." He suggested. I nodded. Even though I had trouble getting along with Zuko sometimes, I couldn't help but worry about him. I guess I also felt sorry for him. His own father challenged him to an Agni Kai at the age of thirteen, then banished him because he refused to fight. We came out onto the main deck to see Zuko blowing fireballs into the sky.
"Is everything okay?" Iroh asked. "It has been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order!"
"I don't care what they do." Zuko snapped.
"Sweet!" I cheered. "I'm going to go get a massage and-" I stopped as Iroh motioned with his hand for me to do so. My mouth clamped shut.
"Don't give up hope, yet. You can still find the avatar before Zhao." Iroh said.
"How uncle?" Zuko asked hopelessly. "With Zhao's resources, it's only a matter of time before he captures the avatar." Zuko slowly walked over to the edge of the deck. His arms hung loosely at his side, he was looking at the ground and he didn't even seem to notice as a cold wind blew through the air. "My honor… My throne… My country… I'm about to lose them all."
"Oh no…" I breathed. The paper slipped out of my hand and floated to the deck of the ship. I turned around to look at the messenger hawk that had brought the message to me. "Get away from here!" I snarled, blasting a fireball in the hawk's direction. It let out an undignified screeched before flapping frantically out of the way. The hawk tried to swoop down at me for revenge, but I ran into the ship and slammed the door behind me. I walked to Zuko's room. "Bad news. Zhao's-"
"Captured the avatar?" The spoiled prince spat. "I knew he would." I gulped. He was not in a good mood. That was not a good thing for anyone on this ship.
"Zuko, I…" I trailed off, trying to think of something. Suddenly, my eyes fell upon the Dark Water Spirit mask, lying on his bedside table. "Zhao might have the avatar now, but he won't for long." I smiled evilly. Best. Plan. Ever.
"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked, glaring at me. He followed my eyes to the mask. His eye widened and he snickered. The idea passed between us silently as we both plotted what we were going to do.
"And I'm not letting you go alone." I promised. "It was my idea, so-"
"So you better get ready quickly." Zuko smirked. My eyes widened. He wasn't even going to try stopping me? He's probably going to leave me there on purpose or something. Totally worth it!
It was way too easy to sneak into that place. Seriously, you'd think they would notice two ninjas in brightly colored masks entering a secret fortress. Of course Zuko had made me switch masks. Now I wore the mask of the dragon empress. He said it was because the dragon emperor mask was red, so it could give us away as Fire Nation citizens. I still couldn't believe I had to wear a girl's mask.
Once we were inside we easily knocked out the guards blocking the room where the avatar was being kept. When we opened the door, the kid stared at us in terror. We both drew our swords and he screamed. I supposed he thought we were torturers hired to torture him.
Zuko and I raced forward and slashed the chains that bound him.
"Who are you?" Aang asked. Neither of us said a thing. It was part of our cover. We couldn't risk someone recognizing our voices. "What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?" Zuko walked over to the door ad opened it, motioning for the avatar to follow. "I'll take that as a yes." He stated. He followed Zuko and I walked our after him. I needed to make sure we stayed on schedule and this kid was walking slowly.
"My frogs!" exclaimed. "Come back! And stop thawing out!" I grabbed his arm and dragged him away. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!" He shouted loudly. Water tribe people like sucking on frogs? Man, this kid has the weirdest friends. I pity him and envy him at the same time.
We snuck through the pipes. I couldn't believe we were even able to leave the fortress. Zuko and I peered out from beneath the pipes and checked around for any guards. There didn't seem to be too many so we hopped out. The kid followed us. We were climbing the same rope we used to climb in when the alarm sounded.
"There, on the wall!" A guard cried. I was so shocked that I accidentally started sliding down the rope. I quickly regained control, though. I climbed as fast as I could, but Zuko and the avatar were in front of me. A guard on the wall sliced the rope we were climbing and we plummeted towards the ground. The avatar used his airbending to save us and I had to commend him.
Zuko pointed his swords towards the open gates. I nodded and we began to rush towards the gates.
"The avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" Zhao's order echoed across the grounds and the guards came out to stop us.
"Stay close to me!" The avatar said, running in front of us. He airbended a large group of guards out of the way. We headed towards the gates again, but a group of guards surrounded Zuko and I. The kid ran ahead. He was a fast runner. He would definitely make it out of this fortress, but what about Zuko and I? We weren't going to get out of here.
I sliced off some spearheads as the guards tried to jab us. I vaguely remembered training with Master Piandao. It was one of the few things that I was lucky enough to remember when I needed it most. I looked back at the kid, but he wasn't trying to get through the doors anymore. He was fighting some guards. What is he doing? This is his chance to get out of here… And the doors are closed. I thought just as they clanged shut. Zuko and I jumped as the kid sliced the guards away with his airbending. It bothered me how most of our actions were mirrored. Wait, what is he-?
The avatar boosted us up over the wall with a powerful gust of air. We both landed on our feet, but a moment later guards surrounded us again. I was prepared to fight them off, but the airbender swooped us into the air. We were hovering high above the ground. The guards started chucking spears at us. Zuko and I sliced the spears midair. I was hoping that this hovering would work, but I could tell that the kid was having a hard time staying airborne. The spears they were hurling at us didn't help the situation. We just so managed to make it to the second wall.
The guards surrounded us once again. Again! I complained in my head. That is the third time that guards have surrounded us. Make it stop! I looked at the edge of the walls to see a group of guards climbing some ladders onto the wall. The avatar used his airbending to knock the guards off the ladder. He picked up the two ladders and came over to us.
"Take this!" He ordered. I took one ladder and Zuko took the other. The kid jumped on the ladder and used it like a stilt. "Jump on my back!" Zuko and I took a flying leap. Zuko landed on the kids back, I landed on Zuko's back and I thanked the spirits that I didn't weigh a lot. The kid used the first two ladders to cross the courtyard in a few swift movements. "Give me the next one!" The ladder was almost to the wall, but a guard just had to light it on fire, didn't he? The three of us leaped for the wall, but none of us could make the jump. We landed right in front of the doors, but they were clamped shut. Guards immediately ran out to surround us.
We just can't get a break today, can we? I thought to myself, preparing to fight the guards. They let loose powerful blasts of fire. The kid jumped in front of us and created a protective bubble of air around us.
"Hold your fire!" Zhao ordered as he stepped through the crowd of guards. A few seconds and the fire was gone. "The avatar must be captured alive!"
In a split second, Zuko lunged forwards, pressing his swords into the kid's neck. I stared. Zuko, you little genius, you! Zuko and Zhao glared at one another for a short while.
"Open the gates…" Zhao growled.
"Admiral, what are you doing?" Colonel Shinu asked.
"Let them out!" He ordered angrily. "Now!"
Slowly, the gates opened. Zuko walked backwards and I did as well, standing in front of the kid, just in case they got any funny ideas. I watched the gates close, but did not let my guard down. We were almost to the woods. We were almost to safety. I watched Zhao cautiously as he glared at us from atop the outermost wall. He was up to something; he was going to try something. I couldn't have expected what it was, though. At least, not until the arrow hit my forehead and everything went black.
I opened my eyes to find myself in a bright green forest. All of the colors were blurred and mashed together. I blinked a couple times to clear my vision. I turned my head slightly and saw the avatar sitting on a tree root. He seemed sort of sad and I didn't know why. What am I doing here? I wondered. This kid… He… He didn't… What happened? I suddenly sat up, but when I did, pain exploded inside my head.
"Man… My head hurts…" I muttered. "What happened?"
"You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is?" The kid wondered aloud. I knew it was a rhetorical question.
"No. What?" I asked, sort of dazed.
"I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us… We'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I've ever had. And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you." He paused and I thought about it. "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?" I thought about it.
"Yeah." I smiled and nodded. "You're really wise for a kid." I stated. "I don't even know your name…" I trailed off.
"Its Aang." He informed.
"I'm Ryuu." I told him my name in turn. I also promised never to call him 'the avatar' again. I was going to address him by name. "Why did you save us? We've been hunting you down for so long now."
"Well… I couldn't leave you there." Aang mumbled. "I don't know why, I just couldn't have left you there. Why did you save me?"
"To tell you the truth…" I trailed off. How was I supposed to tell him that we only rescued him so we could capture him? "We only rescued you because we didn't want Zhao to succeed. I know that sounds selfish, but…"
"I would have done the same thing in your situation." He sympathized.
"No, you wouldn't have. You would have saved you just because you like saving people. I did it for selfish reasons. I wanted- no, I needed to confront Zhao. He knows who my parents are. He knows what happened to them. I don't know how he knows, but he mentioned it at Roku's temple." I confessed my secrets. I don't know why. I had never even told Iroh these thoughts. How could I tell a complete stranger?
"You don't know who your parents are?" Aang questioned sadly. I closed my eyes and nodded.
"Zuko and Iroh found me floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of the ocean. When I woke up, I had this scar and I could only remember my name." I sighed. "If I could just get Zhao to tell me something, anything about my parents… I might be able to remember them."
"I never knew my parents. It never really bothered me, though. I had Gyatso, the monk who trained me, and friends from every nation…" Aang smiled. "And now I have friends who can help me, even if all my friends from a hundred years ago are gone." I nodded slowly as I listened. I was about to reply, but someone shot a ball of fire towards Aang. He leaped into the trees and disappeared from sight.
"What's your problem?" I shouted at Zuko. Had he been listening that entire time? "I was trying to have a conversation!" Zuko didn't say anything. He just stared off as Aang left.
"Let's get back to the ship." He muttered after a long silence. I nodded.
Tikaani's POV:
"Suck on these. They'll make you feel better." Aang promised as he made us suck on the frozen frogs. They actually didn't taste to bad.
"Make any new friends?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be.
"Yeah… I think so…" Aang mumbled before collapsing onto Appa's tail. I raised an eyebrow. That wasn't right. Did Zuko do something different? Unless… Ryuu! He must have talked to Ryuu!
"Mm, this is tasty!" Sokka exclaimed as he sucked on a frozen frog. The frog thawed out and Sokka spat it out. He started wiping his tongue on Appa to get the germs out of his mouth, and Katara squealed in disgust before discarding hers. I simply spat the frog out.
"Can I get another one of those frogs?" I asked. Sokka and Katara looked at me as if I was messed up. "What? It was tasty!"