Chapter 13: Blast

When Smellerbee woke up, Jet was beside her, shaking her slightly by the shoulder.

"It's time to go," he whispered, somehow managing to keep the ever-present twig in his mouth from falling.

Smellerbee sprang up and quickly pulled on her boots and headband and fastened her dagger belt around her waist. She was out on the platform by Jet's hut within a minute. Jet and Longshot were already there and Sneers and Pipsqueak were emerging from their hut to join the group.

"Can't hide anything from that kid," Smellerbee heard Jet say softly, a vague smile on his face. He was looking past Smellerbee, to where The Duke was approaching, fully dressed and wearing his helmet. Jet didn't look annoyed, but he did put his hand on The Duke's shoulder and say, "Look, The Duke, I don't know if –"

"I'm coming with you guys," The Duke said. Smellerbee couldn't help but grin. The Duke was the only person ever to directly defy Jet – it just never occurred to anyone else to do so. Jet looked appraisingly at The Duke for a moment and before saying, "Okay."

Once Sneers and Pipsqueak caught up to them, Jet said quietly, "Let's go."

They all descended on ropes swiftly and silently. The cart Smellerbee and Longshot had loaded just hours before was waiting for them on the ground, and together they all pushed it across the forest floor, Jet leading the way. Without speaking a word, they reached the cliffs overlooking the dam.

Jet looked out at the landscape below them. The sun was soon to rise, and Smellerbee realized that it would be the last dawn this village would see. Jet turned to address all of them.

"Now listen, you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal." Smellerbee caught the sound of something in the bushes behind them. "If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive."

The Duke, who had been perched on the wagon, leapt down and asked, "But what about the people in the town? Won't they get wiped out, too?" Everyone else stayed tense and silent. Only The Duke could get away with this.

Smellerbee heard the rustling in the bushes again. She turned and saw – were her eyes playing tricks on her? – Sokka. She moved quietly around and behind him, silently catching Pipsqueak's attention and pointing out the intruder.

"Look, Duke," Jet was saying. "That's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation." He stood and addressed Longshot. "Now, don't blow the dam until I give the signal, got it?"

Simultaneously, Smellerbee and Pipsqueak moved forward to trap Sokka. Pipsqueak pulled him up by the hair while Smellerbee unsheathed her brother's dagger and held it at the now-captive's throat. Her face just inches from Sokka's she snarled, "Where do you think you're going, ponytail?"

Jet's eyes went wide and angry for a split second before he said calmly, "Everyone move out. I'll handle this."

Pipsqueak and Smellerbee pulled Sokka fully out of the bushes now and threw him at Jet's defiant feet.

"Sokka," he said. "I'm glad you decided to join us."

"I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town," Sokka said, standing slowly.

"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation," Jet corrected.

"There are people living there, Jet," Sokka implored. "Mothers and fathers and children." All of them already destroyed, Smellerbee thought harshly, pushing away the doubt that lingered in the back of her mind.

"We can't win without making some sacrifices," Jet said, the energy in his voice rising.

"You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!" Sokka accused.

"Because they don't understand the demands of war," Jet said, smoothly spinning a web, removing the twig from his mouth. "Not like you and I do." It was only from the outside that Smellerbee could see the mastery of Jet's craft. Sokka had to choose between being against Jet – and therefore a naïve child, dumb to the demands of reality – or sanding by Jet and his plan.

"I do understand," Sokka said, gaining power and confidence as he spoke, "I understand that there's nothing that you won't do to get what you want.

"I was hoping you'd have an open mind," Jet said in a dangerously calm voice. "But I can see you've made your choice." He glanced at Smellerbee and Pipsqueak, cuing them to come forward and seize him. Sokka raised a hand as if to fight, but Jet stopped him, trapping Sokka's hand with his swords. "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang," he said. Then he said to Pipsqueak and Smellerbee, "Take him for a walk – a long walk."

"You can't do this!" Sokka shouted as he struggled against his captors.

"Cheer up, Sokka. We're going to win a great victory against the Fire Nation today."

As she helped push Sokka along the path away from the dam and the hideout, Smellerbee felt a chill creep up her spine. She knew that Jet had found a way to justify letting the Earth Kingdom villagers be caught in the crossfire, but now he didn't even seem to notice he was doing so.

:–:–:–:

Smellerbee was technically leading the way down the path, pushing Sokka in front of her.

"Come on, move along," she said. He'd started to slow down again.

"How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" Sokka demanded.

"Hey listen, Sokka," Pipsqueak said forcefully, saving Smellerbee from answering the question. "Jet's a great leader. We follow what he says, and things always turn out okay."

"If that's how Jet leads, then he's got a lot to learn."

"Hey!" Smellerbee reached desperately out to grab Sokka as he took off through the trees suddenly and without warning.

Pipsqueak and Smellerbee dashed after him, Smellerbee gaining ground with each second until –

She was yanked violently upwards from the forest floor, crushed into a tiny sphere – a Fire Nation trap.

"While you two are up there, you might want to practice your knot-work," Sokka taunted from below before walking away.

"Hey, Smellerbee, are you going eat your leechee nuts?" Pipsqueak asked her. She threw one at him angrily, hitting him square in the face. They'd been tricked by a complete idiot. They'd been caught by traps they knew better than to stumble into. Sokka got away because his damn hands weren't tied properly – she'd let Pipsqueak do it, and this was where it got them. She'd gotten lazy – she'd let go of him.

Jet's going to hate me.

They sat there for a half an hour, Smellerbee seething the whole time. She wanted to tear apart the metal bars. She wanted to get her hands on Sokka, teach him a lesson . . . She also wanted to hit Pipsqueak, who was now humming quietly to himself.

"Will you shut up?" she snapped.

"Sorry, Smellerbee," he said softly, silencing immediately.

Her whole body ached from being cramped in such a small space. She felt like she could burst with anger. She couldn't stand the thought of the shame that would come when Jet found out what they'd allowed to happen. And now she hated Pipsqueak for being so damn quiet. She was certain that she'd never been so annoyed and miserable in her life.

Suddenly, she was torn from her self-pity by the sound of an explosion.

"The dam," she said quietly. "They blew up the dam."

:–:–:–:

An hour later, they were still there. Pipsqueak had fallen asleep somehow, leaving Smellerbee feeling lonely and depressed, though she couldn't say why.

She managed to get her cage to swing back and forth slightly, which was marginally better than being completely still, though it brought her no closer to escaping. She was certain that if she had even just a little room to move she might find a way to get out of the damn thing, but she was reluctant to try too hard – they were at least forty feet in the air, and a fall would result in massive injuries at best and at worst . . . well, now she was starting to understand why some people were afraid of heights.

She couldn't decide if it was good or bad that they were off of the main path through the forest. This meant that they'd be less likely to be discovered by people they didn't want to find them, but also less likely to be found by Freedom Fighters.

Have they even noticed that we're gone yet? Smellerbee wondered. They've got to . . . if Sokka turned up and tried to stop them, they'd have to know that something happened to us . . . She felt almost ill with embarrassment at the thought of Jet coming to rescue her like the helpless, pathetic loser she was. He'd never trust her with anything important again . . .

She leaned her head against the metal bars, hating herself. She wanted to cry with anger – almost. Her eyes burned, but tears never truly formed or fell.

"You've really screwed up now, Smellerbee," she said quietly to herself.

"Hey!" a high, familiar voice called out below. Smellerbee tried to see who it was but found herself unable to make the angle.

"Whasgoinon?" Pipsqueak mumbled, waking up.

"The Duke?" she shouted back.

"Yeah! Hey Sneers, Longshot, over here!"

Now Smellerbee could see the child scampering across the ground below, Longshot and Sneers following behind him.

"What happened to you guys?" The Duke asked as Sneers (at Longshot's direction) started climbing up the tree Pipsqueak hung from and Longshot started up to get Smellerbee.

"Sokka got away," Pipsqueak said, slightly ashamed. "We went to chase him and got stuck here . . ."

Smellerbee was relieved, at least, that Jet wasn't the one to discover her here. She didn't want her indignity to mar Jet's view of her.

"How'd the plan go?" she asked.

"It didn't really go like Jet wanted it to," The Duke said. "Sokka told everyone in the village what was going on and everyone left, including the soldiers." He only really sounded disappointed about the soldiers.

"How'd Jet take that?" Pipsqueak asked.

"Well . . . we found him frozen to a tree and he told us Katara did it when she found out what his plan was . . . and then he told us about Sokka . . . he wasn't too happy . . . he was acting sort of funny and then he went off into the woods and hasn't come back yet."

Smellerbee saw movement to her side and turned to try and look at Longshot as he slowly lowered her cage to the forest floor. Pipsqueak, too, was soon descending beside her. When Sneers and Longshot were both on the ground again, they released Pipsqueak and then Smellerbee from their minute prisons.

"Thanks, guys," Smellerbee said miserably, stretching out, feeling each muscle ache freshly.

"We really owe you one, The Duke," Pipsqueak said, smiling down at the child. "Come on," Pipqueak said, bending down so The Duke could clamber up and sit on his shoulders. Smellerbee felt the oppressive presence of guilt for how she'd felt about Pipsqueak and how she'd shouted at him. He is a better person than you could ever hope to be, she thought shamefully. She kept a few paces behind him and Sneers. Longshot fell into step beside her.

"Do you think Jet's okay?" she asked. Longshot shrugged, disinterested. "Hey, are you okay?" He shrugged again. "Don't give me that," she said, slightly annoyed. "Come on, what's the matter?" Longshot shook his head. "Fine," Smellerbee said, now thoroughly irritated. "Whatever." She started to walk quicker, to get away from Longshot. "Agh!" Her leg had collapsed underneath her, a stabbing pain in her knee. Sitting cramped and immobile for so long had taken its toll.

"Smellerbee, are you okay?" Sneers asked. All of them had turned to look at her, splayed clumsily across the ground.

"It's just my leg," she said, getting up and wincing. "I'll be fine." She took a few steps and couldn't help but limp a little.

Pipsqueak glanced up at The Duke, who nodded. "Do you want me to carry you back?" Pipsqueak asked Smellerbee.

"No, I'll be fine," Smellerbee said again. She had no desire to be helped by anyone. As if being trapped and then rescued was not bad enough, she wanted to at least get back to the hideout with a little bit of her ego intact. She kept walking. Her leg was furiously reprimanding her with each step, pain searing across her knee to accent the dull aches she still felt all over, reminding her that the last thing she should be doing was putting weight on it. But her pride won out on this one.

:–:–:–:

When they got back to camp, it felt different – confused and tense. Their missions didn't always go exactly as planned, but this was something new for all of them.

And Jet still hadn't returned.

It was about lunchtime, but Smellerbee didn't feel like eating. She was tired and still inexplicably depressed. And there was still something strange about Longshot. What the hell was going on? The Avatar's supposed to bring balance, not screw everything up, Smellerbee thought. Well, great job . . . everything's completely messed up now. Are you happy, Avatar? Are you, Sokka? What about you, Katara? Three days here and you've ruined everything.

A few other Freedom Fighters had approached her and Pipsqueak, asking where they'd been and what happened. Pipsqueak obliged, but Smellerbee pushed them away with an emphatic, "I don't want to talk about it! Ask him!" as she went to her treehouse and threw herself down on her mat. She slept for a long time, determined to keep away for as long as possible the change she knew deep down was coming.

:–:–:–:

Author's Note: Hey! If any of you have followed my other fics before, you'll know I'm the worst at timely posting, but I've been really working on that, especially for the past few chapters. But from here on out, I have nothing to work with but my own imagination until the Freedom Fighters run into Zuko and the Gaang in Ba Sing Se. I've got some ideas (and the next chapter is even finished, though it's still stuck in editing, and I've made some headway on the chapter after that), but there's a lot of time for me to fill until they get to Ba Sing Se and I have to make it meaningful, so if I'm a little slow with posting, please bear with me! You guys are the best, and I hope you all like the story so far. Let me know what you think; please review!