So here is the next chapter, continuing from Zuko's POV:
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We have been walking now for nearly an hour or two, the only sound that could be heard is the swish of Sokka's machete as he clears a path through the forest and the snapping of dry leaves and twigs beneath our feet. The tension was palpable, falling over us like a thick blanket, the awareness and anticipation so sharp that you one could almost touch it with their hands. I bring up the rear, my eyes wandering around our surroundings, looking out for any sign of trouble. Now that I have had a bit more time to think about it, this doesn't seem like a good plan anymore. The variables involved in it are too random to be anticipated and its frightening to think about the number of things that could go wrong. I look up at Sokka and Katara, feeling guilty about including them in my attempt to find out about Uncle, though I remind myself, I didn't exactly had much say into the matter anyway.
I couldn't keep my doubts to myself any longer and I blurt out " What if we are going on a fool's errand?"
Sokka lets out a yelp and jumps almost a foot in the air, his hand taking out his sword in one fluid motion as he jumps back to face me. Before I could even react, a water whip comes out of no where and hits me on the side of my head. I stumble back, blinking my eyes in surprise, feeling the cool water drip through my hair onto my clothes.
"Zuko!" Katara hisses, letting go of her bending stance as she gets a good look at me. "What's the big idea startling me?" she snaps, bending the water out of my robes.
"Ya," Sokka replies, his sword dangling by one hand and the other hand across his chest, his face drained out of color. "You are lucky I didn't swing my sword back at you"
"Sorry" I mumble, feeling a bit stupid as I run my finger through my hair, checking if its dry. Katara gives me an angry glare and turns back, pulling the water back into her pouch. "Let's keep moving" she says "We are almost at the outskirts of the town where Piandao lives"
"Didn't you hear me?" I ask, a bit annoyed at being ignored.
"Yes, we heard you Zuko" Sokka replies, going back to clearing a path. " Even if its a fool's errand, there is no turning back now. We considered all the possibilities before setting out so we are going to see this through, no matter what"
I sigh and continue walking, following the water tribe siblings, the full moon illuminating the area around us in a silver glow. I try to get rid of my worries but they keep coming back relentlessly. It wouldn't have mattered if I had come alone but the very fact that I have Sokka and Katara with me makes this situation more complicated than it would have been otherwise. I don't even realise that Katara has stopped in front of me and snap out of my thoughts when I suddenly bump into her.
She looks at me in concern and places her hand on my shoulder. " Don't worry so much about us" she says gently. " We can take care of ourselves"
"I know" I hesitantly reply back. " I am not worried about you not being able to take care of yourself. I am worried about the unnecessary risks that I am putting you through."
She gives me a small smile and I find myself wondering at how delicate she is and yet so strong. She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and yet she finds the courage and conviction to encourage others in their paths. I smile back at her, thinking that maybe getting her to come along is not such a bad idea after all.
"Guys?" Sokka calls from the front, breaking the moment and we instinctively step away from one another as he comes into view. I am surprised at feeling the tinge of disappointment that carouses through me when she takes her hand off my shoulder.
"We are nearly here" he says. We both follow him as he bends down beside a big boulder and we come up behind him. We peer above his shoulder and I can see the city gate in front of us. Surprisingly it was open. "Why is no one guarding the gate?" I ask.
"They normally don't" Sokka replies. "There are guards inside the city though but I don't think it will be any problem. After all we are dressed as fire nation individuals and I don't see any reason for them to suspect us"
"I don't like it" I reply. " I would have expected Azula to place guards all over the city and town entrances, now that she knows the avatar is alive. Finding one with the gates open seems quite ominous"
"You think its a trap?" Katara asks.
"How can it be a trap?" Sokka replies. " She doesn't know that we are coming back to this particular town to meet Piandao. So unless she knew our every move, including the ones that we had not originally planned about, I don't think we should worry too much."
I look back at the gate, it is still about 10 to 20 feet away from us.
"Ok." I find myself saying. "Let's go then."
No sooner had we stepped out of the forest into a small clearing, a tiny glitter in one of the tree branches catches the corner of my eye. My horror at the realization of what it is had not even sunk in when I hear the swishing sound I was dreading followed by a dull clunk, mere centimeters away from where my head was a second ago. Sokka looks back, his mouth hanging open, at the arrow which was now lodged firmly into the tree behind us.
"Run!" I shout, dragging Katara along with me as I make a mad dash towards the very forest we had just stepped out of a few minutes ago. Arrows fly around us everywhere, their sounds nearly blotting out our frantic footsteps as we try to dodge them, at the same time trying to see where we are running. Behind me, I could hear Sokka taking out his boomerang and shooting it through the air. An echoing clunk reverberates throughout the forest as an archer falls down from one of the trees, unconscious.
The Yu Yen archers. I let go of Katara's hand and draw out my swords, knocking off about what seems like a dozen arrows headed towards me. Using the swords as a means, I quickly create a wall of flames around us, trying to provide cover from the arrows but I know its futile. The Yu Yen Archers are legendary for their precision and accuracy, not to mention their camouflaging skills. The moon being the only source of light, it is becoming difficult to know from which trees they are shooting at us and I crane my neck trying to locate the archers by noting the locations that the arrows are coming from. I notice an arrow fly out from the nearest tree to my right and instinctively I dodge it, shooting out a flame in the direction of the tree, cutting off the bow string of one archer, rendering him helpless. Beside me I could feel Katara shooting out ice daggers in a circle which were colliding with the arrows in midair, changing off their paths.
"Katara!" Sokka shouts at his sister. " Provide us some more cover."
Katara spreads out her arms and whirls around in a furious circle. For a moment, my vision is obstructed as suddenly water whips up from the grass beneath our feet, the ground looking soot black in the moonlight. I deflect back one more arrow just in time to see her clawing her fingers and with a cry, she suddenly swishes out her arms. The air around us is filled with hundreds of ice daggers, flying out in a circle from around us, colliding with the arrows and some of them embedding themselves in the tree trunks. The sound of the bamboo strips of bowstrings cracking can be heard among the showering rain of arrows.
Knocking off the arrows with my swords, I try desperately to figure out the archers among the dark leaves of the trees. Noticing the glint of the arrows again in the moonlight, I shoot out thin flames in the direction, the answering snap of the bowstring telling me that I hit my target more than once. Three of the disarmed archers try to fight back but I knock them out quickly with a sharp blow to their heads with the hilt of my swords.
The shower of arrows have reduced considerably as I turn around and notice more than a couple of them lying unconscious on the forest floor, with their broken bowstrings by their sides. I run towards the center, just in time to see Sokka deflecting off a couple of arrows with his machete. Katara creates a wall of ice in front of us, shielding us from the remaining three archers, as they shoot arrow after arrow trying to break down the ice. Sokka kneels down beside me, as we take shelter behind the wall.
"There are three more" I tell him. "We need to take them out before they surround us from the back"
"How do we figure out where they are?" Sokka asks in panic, looking at the ice walk which will crack at any moment.
"I can do that." I reply, standing up. " Shoot where I point."
Katara looks at me and nods her head. I close my eyes, bringing back all the trainings that uncle imparted to me throughout the course of my futile attempt at restoring my honor. I can almost hear him in my head " The key to being a master is not just being able to shoot fire out of your finger tips. Its about being aware of your surroundings and being able to tune out of one sense and tune into another. We are so dependent on sight that we tend to underestimate the importance of our ears. Listen Prince Zuko,listen to your surroundings, tune in only to your hearing abilities and then you will realize what a strength it really is"
"Ok uncle" I mutter to myself, "Its time I put your words to use" I concentrate hard on filtering out all the noise around me, the sound of the arrows hitting the wall, Sokka's heavy breathing and the sound of Katara's billowing robes. I feel my forehead narrow in concentration as I try to tune in my hearing to detect the sounds of the bowstrings' twang as they release the arrows. And I can hear it. I nod my head, my eyes still closed. Katara melts the wall in seconds and I could hear Sokka's frightened gasp.
"There" I point to my right and I can feel a cold whip of air on my right cheek as Katara lets go of an ice dagger, followed by the satisfying sound of a bow snapping in several joints. I myself shoot a flame to my left, my eyes still closed and considering Sokka's triumphant yell I guess I got the second archer.
The third one was brought down by Sokka's boomerang and I opened my eyes as the archer slid down the branches into the forest floor.
A silence hangs around us for a few minutes, each of us too stunned to speak. I could see Sokka's dress having a few holes where the arrows must have pierced it and I turn to look at Katara who seems to have a similar problem. Finally Sokka lets out a sigh and says:
" I guess you know your sister too well"
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