Guys, I'm so so so sorry for the horribly late update. Let me just say that. I know I'm horrible! But I have three excuses. So this past Tuesday I found some fireworks, and I lit them off with my fam and I'll just say when i way lighting a bottle rocket I burnt my thumb, index finger, and ring finger on my right hand and I caught my shirt on fire sorta. Ya I was not happy cuz it was a new shirt but it's only a minor burn thank goodness. But anyway, my fingers where pretty tender and I couldn't type for a while. Then I had HORRIBLE writers block for this story. Oh my gosh it was so so so so bad. But on the bright side I got some good one shots out of it... Any way then this chapter just took forever to write with my writers block and I had family stuff going on...so again I super sorry. Please forgive me. And P.S. I don't know this chapter may not be my best, it's kinda a in between chapter to fill in some stuff and I wrote it on writers block so I may just suck and be boring, but bare with me if it is. P.P.S. I Made a facebook page for my profile on here. You can go there for A/N's or for sneak peeks for my next chapters and other stuff like that. Nothing is up currently, but I will start posting once I start getting likes. :)
Anyway, please Enjoy the new chapter. :)
Disclaimer: I burned my fingers, and I still have to say it? Whatever, I don't own the amazing show ATLA...sadly...
Chapter 21-Intresting News
Aang rubs his eyes as he searches hopelessly at the barren ground under him. It's been about four hours since everyone left for Ba Sing Se, and it's been another hour since they began flying over land. Ever since they all saw hard ground under them they've been searching. They all sit practically glued to the side of Appa's saddle as they search for the giant wall of Ba Sing Se.
"Anybody see it?" Sokka asks from Appa's brown saddle. His voice is breathless and low.
Aang sighs and turns back to his passengers. "No," he breaths. "This is maddening! How are we going to find Katara if we can't even find Ba Sing Se?" The Airbender exclaims while throwing is arms into the air. Once the Airbender's exclamation is through his hands come crashing back into his crossed legs. He fights back the tears. The one and only person, who will talk to him, listen to him, keep him believing, the only person who he cares deeply for is lost. And the worst part is that Katara was taken right after their fight, leaving those hurtful words the last she heard from him.
Aang shakes his head quickly, gulping past the forming lump in his throat. He's a jerk, and he won't blame Katara if she never wants to talk to him again. If they even end up finding her. Instantly Aang scowls himself, they will find her.
"Wait, guys I think I see it!" Suki exclaims, pointing her finger forward, past Aang's head. Aang flips his head up to see a line spanning across the horizon. It has to be the giant wall of Ba Sing Se.
"That has to be it." Sokka states, leaning forward as if the mysterious line would suddenly become clearer.
After the comments from Sokka and Suki everything goes quite. Everyone strains their eyes as the line in the distance starts to become a giant wall as Appa flies closer. "There it is!" Ty Lee exclaims, clapping her hands together.
"Wow, it's big." Teo states as Aang flies Appa closer to the wall.
Aang widens his eyes slightly at the sight of the giant wall. "Ya, it is." He says in awe, while looking over his shoulder.
Appa is quickly closing the distance to the wall, making Aang urgently grab to the reigns. He steers the flying bison down to the wall. As they come closer to the wall Aang can distinctively see two men patrolling the wall. They both pace back and forth and they both look forward with emotionless faces.
With a kind smile forming on Aang's face, he closes the desistence to the wall. Appa hovers next to the large wall. One of the men patrolling glances over at Appa and looks back nonchalantly. Suddenly he stops in his tracks, eyes wide. He gasps loudly and spins around to gaze at the flying bison. Once the other man sees his partner's behavior he follows his eyes to Appa. His reaction is similar to the man standing, frozen, next to him.
Aang smiles widely at them. Instantly Sokka leaps up to the front of Appa's saddle. He leans over the edge and stares at the men. "Get your general." He commands. Both men nod their heads vigorously and run off.
Soon enough the men come racing back with a man in his general uniform. A long brown goatee covers his chin. "General How, we need to speak with you immediately." Sokka says urgently over Aang's shoulder.
The general with the name of How looks at them confused but nods his head. Sokka climbs to the edge of Appa's head and jumps onto the wall next to General How. Toph follows with the help of Zuko guiding her. Ty Lee and Suki then grab Teo and help him off of Appa. Ty Lee then hops back onto Appa and grabs Teo's wheel chair. She tosses it off of Appa to Zuko who catches it with a struggle. Ty Lee then jumps off of Appa yet again, landing lightly on her feet. She and Suki then proceed to help Teo into his chair.
"What do we do with Appa?" Aang asks clenching tighter to Appa's reins, making no movement to jump off.
Sokka shrugs. "You can just let him fly around, you've done it before."
The Airbender stays quiet for a moment. "Alright," he agrees reluctantly after he thinks it over. He jumps from Appa's head, grabbing his glider on the way. As Aang jumps Momo spreads his tiny wings and lands the Avatar's shoulders. Momo wraps his tale around his master's neck. The Airbender turns his head with wide eyes to look at Momo. Quickly he turns his head back to the wall and sends a small pocket of air under his feet to cushion his landing. He takes a wary glance at Momo before turning to Appa and placing a hand on his wet nose. "Go find something to eat and you can…" Aang stops speaking and turns to Sokka. "How are we going to find Appa if he isn't with us?"
Sokka's shoulders slump then a smile breaks onto his face. He instantly digs his hands into his pocket. He's face straitens momentarily as the cold stone of Katara's necklace touches his fingertips. He quickly pushes past it however and feels a smooth wooden texture under his fingers. Quickly he wraps his hands around the bison shaped piece and pulls it from his pocket. "Here," Sokka says holding the white piece for Aang to see. "It's a bison-"
Aang cuts him off, finishing the sentence himself. "Whistle," he exclaims, leaping forward and snatching the object out of Sokka's hands. "Where did you get this?" he asks, observing it.
"You found it when we were fighting the war. Before we left Iroh's tea shop I grabbed it, thinking it might come in handy." Sokka explains.
Aang smiles widely before wrapping his lips around what would be the back legs of the bison. He intakes a large breath before blowing with all his might. No sound comes to human ears.
Appa however grunts loudly from the high-pitched sound. He nudges Aang's back. Momo who still sits perched on Aang's shoulder screeches loudly before trying to cover his large ears with his small fists.
Aang takes the whistle from his mouth and smiles widely before looking at Momo. "Where did we get him, because this is a winged lamer? And they are only found at the Air Temples." Aang asks.
"The first time you took me and Katara to the Southern Air Temple you found him," Sokka stops and begins again in a smaller voice. "And I sort of tried to eat him…"
"Why?" Aang exclaims.
"I was hungry and I didn't have any meat." Sokka defends.
Suki shakes her head. "You're something else Sokka…" She says.
Sokka purses his lips and crosses his arms over his chest with a 'humph'. "Oh come on, you know I'm kidding." Suki says with a bat of her eyelashes before snaking her arm into the crook of Sokka's elbow. Sokka lets a small smile slip onto his face.
"Anyway," Zuko cuts in with wide eyes. "We need to talk…privately." He tells the general.
General How nods. "Alright, come with me." He says walking away. Everyone follows.
They all walk-or roll-behind General How as they follow him across the wide wall. It's silent the entire way until the general stops at a rock building spanning across the width of the wall. Arches line the entrance. The general walks in and towards a large desk positioned against the wall facing towards the barren land beyond the large wall of Ba Sing Se. A large window is carved out behind the desk, showing a small looking enclosure. People that look like ants from this height, are scattered across the small place. Aang sees it and is puzzled. "What's that?" he asks pointing out the window.
General How looks behind him then back to Aang. "A Zoo someone made. We don't even know how it got there." He answers.
Suddenly Aang's eyes glaze over as images take over his mind.
He brings in a large breath and blows into his bison whistle with all he can. Suddenly various animals come running after him. His eyes widen then he takes off toward the not-far-off wall. Soon he shows up at it and the men atop looking down instantly open the wall and Aang races out. He speeds up to a patch of land and leads the animals into it. He takes an earthbending stance and begins to carve out the earth into enclosures for the animals. He bends the elements he must to make a beautiful Zoo. Soon it's finished and the animals are housed nicely and happily in the Zoo.
"Aang, hello." Sokka says rather loudly in Aang's face while waving a hand in front of the Airbender's glazed over eyes. Aang blinks out of his memory.
"What?" he asks, still dazed.
Sokka gazes at him. "You're creeping me out. You were out of it for like two minutes. What were you thinking about?" Sokka asks.
"I think I just got a memory." Aang says groggily, holding his head.
Sokka's eyes widen. "What was it, what did you remember?"
Aang shrugs his shoulders. "I think I made that Zoo." He admits.
Sokka laughs. "I don't remember you doing that." He says
"Well none of you were in the memory. I just distantly remember me making that." Aang says while pointing out the window at the small Zoo.
Sokka shrugs. "We'll figure it out later," he then turns to the general. "General How, I we have some news."
"Go ahead." General How says, signaling he's ready.
"Alright, we have reason to believe that Lake Laogai is still functioning." Sokka says seriously.
General How laughs. "No, no, that's not possible." He says. "I assure you it was destroyed, Earth King Kuei informed me long ago that it was destroyed. And besides, how could it still be in function if the Dai Li aren't a police force anymore?" he tells them.
Sokka growls lowly before speaking. "Listen, the Dai Li are still out there, maybe not as a police force but they are still here. And as for Lake Laogai, it was a year ago that it was destroyed and someone could have easily remade it." Sokka explains.
General How purses his lips. "What are you asking, because I'm not sending my men on a wild goose chase?" He asks.
"No, I don't want your police force. I just want a map, and I figured that you should know," Sokka stops. "But I do have a question."
General How nods. "What is it?"
"Have your reports of missing people gone up lately?' Sokka asks, with a straight face.
General How's eyes go wide. "Yes." He answers.
"If Lake Laogai is in function wouldn't that make sense of why people are going missing?" Sokka asks, a smug smirk taking his face.
"It's possible," General How says, his eyes glazing over as he is lost in his thoughts. Sokka's smile grows. The general begins to speak again however. "Why is this so important to you?"
Sokka sighs, his smug grin wiped completely of his face. "My sister," he says. "We think she was taken there."
General How nods. "I understand. Where did you get this information?"
"From a rebel we captured. He was on the mission to capture my sister. He said that Lake Laogai is where they took her." Sokka explains, a crest fallen expression plastered to his face.
Again the general nods. "I think that you should rest and I will have some men scout the area." The general tells them.
Aang shakes his head, finally coming into the conversation. "No, we need to find her today. She could be in danger." Aang argues, stepping up next to Sokka.
"Avatar Aang, I understand your bond to her seeing how she is your girlfriend, but I think you should stay safe for tonight." General How tells Aang, having no idea what can of worms he just opened.
Aang's eyes go wide, did he just say she's my girlfriend? He asks himself. He opens his mouth to speak but shuts it. He's to shocked to even speak. The room instantly goes silent and Sokka face palms himself.
"S-she isn't my girlfriend." Aang tells him nervously.
The general's eyes go wide. "Oh, did something happen between you two. I'm terribly sorry, I didn't hear about it. Frankly I'm surprised the daily scroll didn't mention anything. You and her are defiantly the favorite couple for the people of Ba Sing Se." he says, completely confused.
Sokka's eyes go wide and he cringes. Aang gazes at the General. "She has never been my girlfriend," Aang stops suddenly and begins to search the floor as if it will have the answers he's looking for. "At least I don't think she was." He says quietly. Sokka cringes again
"General How can I speak with you outside?" Sokka asks through gritted teeth. The general nods his head slowly, confused about what's happening.
As they both leave Aang spins around to see the nervous gazes of his friends. "What's going on? Was I really Katara's boyfriend?" Aang questions.
Suki cringes at the question. "I don't know if I should answer that," she says. "Katara is the one I think you should ask." She tells him nervously.
Aang sighs and runs a hand over his bald head that now feels slightly fury from his lack of shaving it lately. "This makes no since," He looks down at the floor then back at Suki. "Please, can you just tell me?" he pleads.
Suki closes her eyes and sighs. When she opens them she sees Sokka entering again with a shocked general. She couldn't be more relived. "Look there's Sokka." She says way too loudly.
Aang spins around to find Sokka walking back up with a forced smile on his face. "Anyway, about that map," he says. The dazed general looks up from his desk he is now seated at. "Can we have one?"
"Um, of course." General How answers, shuffling through some scrolls on his desk. He picks up a large scroll and holds it out towards Sokka.
Sokka steps forward and grabs the scroll. He opens it up and looks it over. Suki and Zuko come up behind him and look over the warriors shoulder. The three study the map, looking to find Lake Laogai. "There, that's it." Zuko says within moments. He points to a small body of water off in the desolate area of Ba Sing Se.
Sokka sighs. "It looks like even if we are on Appa it's going to take at least a day to get there."
"Well what are we going to do then?" Suki asks, turning her head to look at her boyfriend's profile.
Sokka takes in a deep breath and looks up from the scroll. He looks out the window positioned behind General How's desk and gazes at the setting sun. "I think General How's right, and we should stay the night here. We need all our strength if we're gonna rescue Katara. And we either stay here where there's warm showers and beds, or we campout. I would rather stay here the night." Sokka explains, turning around to look at everyone.
All of them nod, save for Aang. "The sooner we get to Katara though, the less she may be injured." He argues.
Sokka shakes his head. "Aang, I want to save her as quickly as possible too. But I think it will be better to stay here. We can sleep in real beds and it's the perfect place to talk about our plan for tomorrow."
Aang sighs; he knows he's not getting anywhere. "Alright, where will we stay?" he asks reluctantly.
"I can get you a perfect spot in the upper ring." General How comments.
Sokka shakes his head. "No, I want something as close to Lake Laogai as civilization gets." Sokka informs while rolling up the scroll in his hands.
General How purses his lips, "You'll need a guild for that. Or you can search the city by yourself." He tells them.
"Wait, the last time we had a guide, she ended up turning into a nut case." Toph comments, not even caring about interrupting the conversation.
Sokka turns to her. "Good point, but it may be our best option."
Toph rolls her eyes. "Whatever, but don't come crying when she ends up trying to kill us or something…" Toph tells him.
Sokka ignores the blind girl's comment and turns back to General How. "We'll take a guild." He states.
The general smiles. "Alright, it will only take a few minutes." He says while standing. General How then walks off, leaving the eight teenagers to themselves.
Sokka pulls open the scroll once again and reads over it. He is lost in the thoughts of what his plan may be so he doesn't even realize that the general returns, this time with a woman. She has white skin with black hair. Her eyes sparkle green, and hold a soft quality to them. Her red lips are stretched into a small smile that shows kindness. She bows.
"It is an honor to meet the famous Avatar and his friends," She straightens. "My name is Min, and I will be your guide."
"Great," Sokka booms. "We need a nice place in the Outer Ring that is close to the outskirts of civilization, towards the south east." Sokka tells her with a smile.
The woman's eyes go wide. "Well, I will see what I can do," She says while pulling out one of three scrolls from her robes. She opens the large scroll and the end hits the ground. She scans it over, her green eyes squinting at the words written upon it. "Alright, I think I have a place. But it may be farther in than you'd like into civilization." She tells Sokka while peaking her eyes over the scrolls top.
It goes silent for a minute before Sokka replies. "I'm sure it's fine, as long as it's to the south east and in the Outer Ring."
Min smiles and rolls up the scroll, sticking it back into her robes once it's rolled up. "Alright, please follow me." She tells them all before walking away.
"She seems nice." Ty Lee says happily before following after her. Everyone follows.
Toph crosses her arms over her chest. "I still don't trust her." She says with twisted lips before stomping off after everyone.
Katara groggily wakes up; feeling like a cloud is covering her mind.
However as she opens her eyes and feels the hard ground under her head. She slowly sits up, holding the side of her head. The waterbender groans as her eyes are blinded by a torch's light. Instantly she brings her left hand away from her head and places it in front of her face.
Suddenly her eyes go wide when she sees no shackles holding her to the wall. Instead she sees her bloody, scabbed, and bruised wrists. A large grin spreads across her face when she looks down to find no shackles around her ankles. She giggles giddily and hops onto her feet. However once she's on her feet her knees instantly buckle. The waterbender falls back to the ground with a grunt and she cringes as her right shoulder is jostled. After the pain subsides, Katara giggles again.
She has no restraints, nothing to hold her back. Katara can move freely without worrying about bringing pain to herself.
Warily Katara brings a hand to her back. She suppresses a gag as she feels her torn flesh under her fingertips and the sticky substance caked to her skin. Warm liquid falls onto her fingers and she brings her hand back to observe her bloody fingertips.
Quickly Katara wipes her hand on her tattered dress. New blood streaks stain the blue fabric. She winces slightly when she bends her wrist. The nerves pinch from the bad sprang done to it.
Katara holds her wrist until her shoulder begins to throb. She sighs. Why does everything have to hurt?
She turns her head to look at the deformed looking shoulder. Inhaling sharply she brings her left hand up and places it on her shoulder. She closes her eyes and inhales sharply, preparing herself for the pain.
In one swift movement, Katara rolls her shoulder then jerks it forward then backwards until a pop is heard. She cries out in pain, but stops as the pain slowly fades away and she's only left with pain of her previous arrow wound done to her shoulder. She coughs as her vision goes slightly blurry from the pain.
After the pain is mostly gone she licks her dry lips. She then turns her attention to the dripping sound of water in her cell. Katara smiles as she listens to the steady rhythm of the plopping water falling into the puddle.
Her hands move up, as she is about to start bending. However her focus is severed when her eyes set on a tray of food only feet from her side. Her eyes go wide and suddenly her mouth waters. The last time she had food was before she was captured, and who knows how long ago that was. Then she feels her stomach rumble from the sudden need for food.
Instantly she leaps forward towards the tray, the water she planned to use to heal herself long forgotten. She gazes happily, yet discussed at the same time, at the tray of food. A bowl of cold rice sits on the tray next to a Moon Peach. However, the Moon Peach has spots of green mold, but other than that it looks alright. Then a green looking soup with brown lumps in it sits in a wooden bowl. Last is a small cup of water.
Katara forgets about the chop sticks laid out for her use and grabs the rice in her hands. She brings a fistful up to her lips and throws it into her mouth. The waterbender's lips turn into a slight frown as she tastes the stale rice, but soon she begins to chow it. She continues this until only a few grains of rice are left. Then she takes a chug of water before wiping her mouth with her sleeve. Katara then picks up the moldy Moon Peach and glares at it before pulling off the moldy patches. She takes a wary bite out of it before gagging up the vile fruit. Instantly she throws it back onto the tray, grabbing onto the cup holding her water and taking yet another swig of it to remove the bitter taste from her mouth. After that she grabs the bowl holding the soup and sticks her index finger into the liquid. She brings her green coated finger up to her lips and tests the soup. At first it tastes vile, but a sweet taste takes over her mouth soon after. Katara shrugs and gulps down the soup until none of it is left in the bowl. She smiles as her stomach feels full, she takes another swig of her drink before her mind starts to fog over.
Katara blinks her eyes continually as she falls back onto the cold ground. Her eyes cross and everything goes fuzzy until darkness takes over her eyes.
Next thing she knows she's awakening in blackness. Cold metal is clasped around her wrists and it suspends her arms in the air. Her back is yet again pushed against the wall and her head is fallen forward. She purses her lips and growls into the silence. This is not what she wanted to wake up to.
So there it is. Sorry if it feels rushed, but I wanted to get a new chapter out quick. But anyway I told you all the news up top so please review. I love it, but you guys know that :) . Seriously though, I better get some reviews, they make the world go round. And most importantly they make the world of Devastation go round...so keep it up. :D And again I'm so sorry for the late update...forgive me. :)