A/N: So erm I was actually meant to post this on Friday and I kind of…forgot? So I'm sorry I delayed this for longer than necessary but here it is: the Penultimate Chapter!
Sokka's POV:
I watch as everyone gather around Toph to congratulate her quick and brilliant thinking, but I can't help but get a niggling thought about Aang. 'Where is he? Is he still inside? Shouldn't we...' My train of thoughts come to an abrupt halt as the ground beneath us shakes violently.
"Guys move! The place is going to give out!" Toph shouts as she pushes us away just in time before the whole area collapses into a steep hole. I peer over the edge.
"Guys wasn't that the hideout?" I ask with slight worry.
"It was. But where's Aang?" Katara replies, her eyes scanning over the whole landscape.
"He said he was going after that masked guy..." The blind Earthbender begins before my sister interrupts her in mid-sentence.
"He did what?! And you just let him!" Katara bursts out in rage and I cringe at the volume.
"Chill Sugarqueen he should be fine. Besides he promised he wouldn't do anything dumb." Toph mumbles under her breath.
"And you believed him?! Of course he would say that!" Katara snaps.
"For the love of... do you really think I wanted him to go off by himself?!" The blind Earthbender finally bites back in frustration. At that moment Iroh decides to intervene and places a gentle hand on Katara's shoulder.
"Arguing won't get us anywhere, why don't we all go and have a look for him. He's probably fine as Toph said. It's always best to think positively." Katara sighs and nods.
"Sorry Toph." The Master Waterbender apologises regretfully, to which Toph shrugs in acceptance. We begin the descent down into the pit.
"Man this place is a dump." I mutter loudly as I see heaps of metal, equipment and earth. "Can you sense him Toph?" But the Earthbender just shakes her head in denial. We walk around, everyone turning over piles of rocks and metal and shouting the young Airbender's name.
"I sense a heartbeat over here!" At Toph's shout we all gather around as she lifts up a large boulder to find Xiu, unconscious. We all grumble at finding the wrong person as Toph shackles his arms together and drags him along. A couple of minutes later Toph makes another discovery.
"Guys I sense someone under here but...there's no heartbeat." A chill runs down my spine at Toph's words. We share a glance and are relieved to find it isn't who we dreaded it to be, but that relief quickly changes to shock.
"Isn't that...?" I'm the first to inquire as the shock wears off. A quick glance at the others tells me that they recognise him too.
"It is. He's much older than I thought he was without the mask, but those are definitely his eyes." I nod my head in agreement with my younger sister until another thought crosses my mind.
"But if Aang went after him then...where is he? And surely he wouldn't have left him to die from all this rubble." I question, as my eyes dart to all the heaps around him. Toph shakes her head in confusion before her eyes light up suddenly.
"Guys there's a faint heartbeat just there." We quickly make our way to where Toph pointed and push away the rocks to find a makeshift metal shelter which the Earthbender quickly opens up to find Aang unconscious with scrapes and bruises littered across his body and his clothes shredded and torn in several areas. I watch as Katara's face show a mortified expression before she quickly drops to her knees and takes out her bending water which begin glowing as she moves it along Aang's body as we all look on in concern.
"He's...he's got some sort of poison in him." Our eyes widen at Katara's depressing diagnosis. I drop to my knees beside her.
"Can't you bend it out?" I ask.
"I can but...I don't know how long it's been in there it...it could be too late." I grind my teeth, not wanting to believe it.
"Katara do what you can and then we'll leave the rest to fate." Iroh's calming words seem to shake Katara out of her frozen frame of mind and as quickly and efficiently as she can I watch as she bends a yellow liquid out of Aang's mouth. We wait for a few seconds in silent until Toph opens her mouth.
"I think we came just in time. His heart is beating a bit more strongly now." I exhale loudly in relief and turn to face her.
"So you think he'll be fine then?" I question hopefully.
"I'm not the healer, but from how it looks he should be alright. Twinkletoes is a tough guy." I nod, hiding my smile at Toph's made-up bravado.
"He'll be fine. We just need to give him rest and plenty of fluids to flush out any of the remaining residues." I nod my head at Katara's confirmation. I get up and walk to the unmasked man's body with Iroh trailing behind me whilst Katara tends to Aang and Toph continues to monitor him. I bend down and inspect the man's body.
"I get the feeling he didn't die from all the rocks." I murmur softly.
"What makes you say that?" Iroh questions as he bends down beside me. I gesture with my finger at his body.
"There's no bleeding or obvious breaks. The only thing I can see is raised veins. Besides, Aang was only a few short metres away from him. He wouldn't have left him to die, he would've dragged him into that makeshift shelter; which brings me to another question…that metal wasn't like that naturally. It looks like it's been bent into shape, which doesn't make sense since Toph only teaches an elite group of people Metalbending and Aang can't bend metal. It's just so weird. I just don't get what happened down there. The only thing we can be sure of is that Aang definitely faced him before he died." I think aloud, scratching my head in thought as my eyes focus on the raised veins which look strangely familiar to me. I feel a gentle hand landing on my shoulder.
"I'm sure Aang will tell us all about it when he wakes up. There's no need to add unnecessary stress on yourself." I nod my head at Iroh's words of wisdom, but do not turn to face him as he walks back to Toph. Then suddenly it clicks why I'm so accustomed by those raised veins just as Katara stands by my side. I look up to her.
"Is Aang ok?" I ask foremost.
"He will be. We should gather the prisoners and make a move so we can get him to a comfortable place to rest. What has you so puzzled?" My sister inquires as she drops to her heels to meet my level. I point to the man's arms.
"Do those look familiar to you?" I ask decisively and watch as my sister scrunches her eyebrows in thought and a second later her eyes widen in shock.
"You don't think?" I nod. Katara shakes her head. "They look like the work of Bloodbending. But who else has such an ability?!" The Master Waterbender exclaims as worry fills her face.
"I don't know, but we have to be careful. We don't know who the potential Bloodbender is, whether he's still alive or whether he's escaped. It's best we remain very cautious with all our prisoners and get back to the Fire Nation as soon as possible, before a full moon." I say quietly, not wanting to trigger alarm in our other two friends, especially as Toph and Iroh don't really know the extent of its danger and power.
"Agreed. It's best we take night watches just to be safe." I nod in acknowledgement of Katara's suggestion.
"Guys when you've finished all your yammering can you decide how we're going to get out of here since we've lost the Sand-sailers?" Toph shouts over to us from her position beside Aang. I purse my lips at this, not having realised that we've lost our only source of transport. I groan internally at the familiar set of circumstances. 'I hate this desert.'
"No fear young ones. I still have that handy device with me. It has a calling beacon for the Sandbenders to pick us up." We all sigh in unison, pleased that we won't be stuck in here like last time.
Hours later...
We all bundle Aang and the prisoners with us onto the Sand-sailers and make our way quickly out of the desert. Toph takes a seat beside me and leans in close.
"Don't think I didn't hear all what you were discussing with Sugarqueen." The blind Earthbender whispers. I gape at her for a second before shaking my head in disbelief and apology.
"Sorry Toph I didn't want to alarm you." Toph snorts.
"Are you for serious?!" I turn to face her with a serious expression on my face.
"Yes, being Bloodbent is one of the worst things you could ever face. I hope you'll never have to experience that. You just feel so helpless and your own limbs can cause damage so easily. You have no idea how close I was to getting Aang with my sword." I shiver in thought and rub my arms to push away the thought. When a pale hand falls on my forearm I look up to Toph in surprise.
"I get it. But we're a team. We shouldn't hide things from each other." I stare at Toph's hand for a moment longer before nodding my head in agreement.
"You're right." I say and then gaze at the oncoming sight of civilisation. "This is the last time I'll ever go into that desert again." I breathe out in resolution as Toph chuckles.
"That makes two of us Snoozles."
A/N: There we go guys, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and the next time you see a post on this story will most likely be the very last! (Of course that may change if I decide to do an epilogue. BUT I think this story has been dragged out for long enough).
I can't actually believe that I've managed to write over 20 chapters for this story…and this is coming from someone who hated studying English at school. Well, sorry this chapter was more on the short side but the next chapter will be long and it will be the FINAL conclusion of the story where Aang awakens, so any unanswered questions should hopefully be answered there, if not then I'll be forced to do an epilogue. Though that might not be a bad thing…
Anywayyyyy this Author's note is getting too long, so I'll hopefully see you all in my next update which (fingers crossed) should be at the end of the week or the beginning of the next. And don't forget to REVIEW, I need as many as I can considering this story is nearly finished.
Only: 1 Chapter left.
18/9/18