A few hours before noon the Fire Nation came into view as a thin black line on the horizon, but before that numerous Fire Nation ships armed with warriors blocked the way to the nation. The two armies came to a halt in the middle of the ocean and everything was silent except for the gentle slapping of waves against warships.
"Fire!" The command reached the Earth and Water boats after the flaming balls were released up into the air. The water benders rushed forward and simultaneously moved their arms up, creating a massive wave that swallowed the fire blasts in seconds.
"We need to get the Earth Kingdom ships to shore!" Leading Water Tribe officers called as another volley of fire blasts were unleashed upon them.
Aang jumped upon Appa and grabbed the reins, "Katara, Toph!" He cried. The Avatar's companions wasted no time in getting to Aang and as soon as they were on board the bison Aang gave the command and guided Appa to Sokka's boat.
"Fai! Let's go!" Sokka called from his position at the stern of the boat. Another warrior jumped into his spot as Sokka and Fai ran to the edge of the boat to board the bison. Fai was the first one on and he leaned over, offering a hand to help pull Sokka up.
"I'm coming too." Suki said briskly walking away from the other women warriors.
"But Suki yo-"
"There's no time to argue!" Toph shouted, interrupting Sokka. She motioned for Suki to climb up onto Appa and the group sped over to the healer's ship, where Kurogane had just annihilated a fire ball that had came charging their way.
"Hyuu Kuro-pon's so cool!" Fai called as they neared the ship.
"Shut up!" Kurogane growled, glaring daggers at the wizard.
"Again I say, there's no time to argue!" Toph shouted, becoming impatient with the group. She'd had enough standing around and wanted to knock some fire bender's heads together as soon as possible, especially if it meant standing on solid ground. "Are you guys coming or what?"
"We were asked to protect this ship so..." Syaoran was interrupted by a voice from behind him.
"Go on, I'll watch over this ship."
"Master Pakku!" Aang and Katara cried, bright smiles on their faces at the sight of their old teacher.
"Yes, it's a wonderful reunion, but, you all have a world to save. I'll watch the healers." Pakku remarked, ushering them to get on Appa.
Without waiting for any further instruction Zuko, Iroh, Syaoran and Kurogane climbed onto Appa, who groaned when he realized the amount of people he was carrying.
"Now go!" Pakku ordered, pointing to the Fire Navy ships and beyond that the Fire Nation itself.
"Yip, yip!" Aang called, flicking the reins. Appa rose to the sky and took off above the clouds. Below them a cry echoed from the Earth and Water ships and they lurched forward, running the line of Fire Navy ships.
"The Avatar, stop him!" A bolt of lightning shot up at them, narrowly missing the bison.
"Azula." Zuko hissed, peering over the side of the giant creature. As he looked down at the Fire Nation ships below him sure enough he saw the three girls standing at the bow of a ship in front.
"Hurry, move to the right!" Iroh said to Aang. The avatar quickly obliged and they avoided yet another blast of the blue lightening.
"Don't just stand there, fire all we've got! It's imperative that we stop the Avatar before he reaches the Fire Nation!" Azula's voice floated up to them again and a volley of fire blasts flew through the air toward them. About half were taken out by the water benders below, and the rest were left for them to deal with. Zuko and Iroh shot a joined fire blast at one, causing it to explode before impact.
Kurogane rose awkwardly to his feet and held his sword up by his head, "Hama Ryuuoujin!" He shouted, swinging this sword low and taking out a line of the fire balls before they even got close.
"Pu big puppy looks so happy!" Mokona chirped, appearing suddenly from the depths of Kurogane's clothing. The ninja fought back the urge to throw Mokona over board, and he passed the creature off to Fai. To take his mind off, now both of their chattering, he looked toward Aang who had just taken out the remaining flaming blasts with a particularly powerful blast of air.
"Almost through!" Katara called out to the group, her hands clenching the material of her shirt tightly. Two minutes and several well avoided attacks later they had passed the last ship and were flying over the clear ocean. Moments later they landed down on the ground of the Fire Nation and they disembarked from Appa, much to the bison's relief.
"Nobody's here." Suki whispered, glancing around at the seemingly deserted area.
"Not here, but over there." Toph raised her hand and pointed to a large metal wall roughly 500 yards away. "There's a huge amount of people just behind that wall."
Suddenly it seemed as though the light around them had begun to dim, and Sokka pointed up at the sun. He shielded his eyes and said, "Look! The eclipse!"
