Hey guys waddddup. I'm back with another chapter of DOTW. If any of you pay any attention to the chapter titles, I renamed 21 and on through this one (and presumably future chapters as well (I'm counting on you to get your shit straight, future me)) to fit the Rescuing Iroh Arc. This will be part 4. Now this chapter ended up being a little bit shorter than I had wanted, mostly because it serves as sort of the set up for the next chapter where a bunch of crap will hit the fan. Consider them a two parter, I guess. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 25- Rescue Iroh 4: Searching in the dark

Jeong Jeong proved to be a very unhappy camper.

"Did you really think I wouldn't know?" he asked, scolding Mylo, Nile, and Satsudi. He nodded at Fai, then continued. "I knew you would try something like this. I wished I wasn't right, but I'm glad I was able to be here in time. Without me, the four of you would undoubtedly be dead." He fixed his eyes on Mylo. "I assume it was your idea?"

Mylo clenched her hands into fists. She wasn't going to back down to him, even if he was in charge. "Look, I'm sorry we ran away, and I'm sorry we disobeyed orders. But I don't regret what I did. We are going to go after Iroh, no matter what you say. Please don't get in our way."

"I wasn't planning on it." Jeong Jeong said.

Mylo was surprised. "What? Really?"

"You three are my responsibility. I have no say on anything Fai does, but you three I have to keep in check. I can't convince you to go back, and I can't fight off all of you to bring you back myself. So all I can really do here is go with you, and do my best to keep you from getting yourselves killed."

Mylo suspected that there might be additional reasons on why he wanted to come along, but she wasn't going to pry. As long as he wasn't going to hinder them then she didn't much care his reasons. She was just glad to have some help in going to save Iroh.

"Great." Fai said simply.

"And so four become five." Satsudi said.

"Glad to have you along and all, I guess." Nile said to Jeong Jeong, who answered only with an annoyed glance. Nile shrugged, then glanced down at the fallen Earthbenders. "So what are we going to do about them?"

"Are going to… kill them?" Satsudi asked, looking to Mylo.

Wait, was this falling onto her? Why not Jeong Jeong or Fai? She realized everyone was looking to her for a decision. How did this happen?

"We aren't going to kill them, of course." Mylo told them. Everyone visibly relaxed. They may be training to be soldiers, and they may be prepared to do what they needed to in order to survive, but they weren't killers.

Yet.

"What should we do with them?" she asked the group. "We aren't going to kill them, but I don't know if we should leave them here, either. And we can't take them with us as hostages, that would take up too much time."

"We could tie them up." Nile offered. "Who has the rope?"

"Here." Satsudi said, retrieving the rope from his pack.

Nile and Jeong Jeong took care of tying up the three Earthbenders while Mylo, Fai, and Satsudi searched the nearby area. There could be others, and they might have some sort of temporary base nearby. More supplies would be nice.

But they found nothing, for better or worse. With the subdued Earthbenders now tied up, the group began moving once more.

They traveled several more hours in the dark forest, heading deeper into the Earth Kingdom. Mylo laughed in her head, remembering a time when these same woods had scared her months ago when they had first arrived here. Not that the area wasn't still dangerous, nor that she was not still wary. But now it was a known danger, something that she knew she could deal with if problems arose.

But soon enough they were in unfamiliar territory, far beyond any patrolled area. They were truly in enemy territory, with no one to save them if they failed. They couldn't count on another incident like with Jeong Jeong. From now on it was life or death, and they had to be smart, capable, and decisive to rescue their friend and make it home.

The sheer difficulty of what they were attempting dawned on Mylo, making her head hurt. They were going to sneak through the Earth Kingdom, with no idea of where Iroh was, and break him out while highly trained Earthbenders did their best to kill them. What if they didn't get there in time to keep him from being brought into Omashu or Ba Sing Se? Then it would become damn near impossible. All of this, for a small handful of recruits.

Suddenly the bushes ahead of them rustled, and the group all stopped and prepared for a threat. A figure burst out, running at them, Nile sent a flame at the figure who jumped back. The fire illuminated the face, and Mylo realized they knew this person.

"Wait! It's Zarai!"

Nile glanced at her, as if to ask, are you sure you want us to stop?

"Stop trying to kill me, thank you." Zarai said coldly to them. "Last I checked I can bend fire, not rocks."

"That doesn't necessarily mean you are on our side." Nile said with a glare.

Zarai shrugged. "Sides are only what people perceive them to be. In the end we are all in it for ourselves, just working with others because it's convenient."

"Shut it." Jeong Jeong ordered. "Both of you. Zarai, what are you doing out here?"

"I escaped." Zarai said, glancing behind him. "I was captured by the Earth Kingdom group at the dock, and they dragged me all the way out here. They were taking me to Omashu. I broke out a couple of hours ago. They are probably looking for me, so I'm trying to make it back to base before they can catch me again."

"Was Iroh with you?" Mylo asked, her words catching in her throat. Maybe this could be the lead they were looking for to track him down.

Zarai glanced at her indifferently. "Iroh? I didn't see him."

"You're lying." Nile said with a glare.

Zarai smiled at him. "Am I?"

"Nile is right." Jeong Jeong said. "I saw them take him."

Zarai shrugged. "Like I said, I didn't see him. Wherever he is, it's not with them. You guys are chasing after nothing, and you'll get yourselves killed if you keep going."

"Shut up, you bastard." Nile said angrily. "We know he's with them."

"Whatever you want to believe." Zarai replied. "But I'm getting out of here before I end up dead like you guys. Real quick, you wouldn't happen to have any food on you, by chance? I haven't had anything to eat for quite a while."

Wordlessly Fai withdrew a loaf of bed and broke off a piece, tossing it to Zarai who caught it neatly and took a ravenous bite out of it. Chewing, he said, "Good luck. You'll probably need it." He disappeared back into the darkness, heading towards the distant Fire Nation base.

Mylo let out a deep sigh. That guy was the worst. "Ok, let's go guys." She started jogging forward.

She stopped when she realized that only three pairs of boots could be heard behind her. She turned around to see that Satsudi hadn't moved.

"Satsudi, buddy, what's wrong?" she asked.

"He's right." Satsudi answered, his gaze on the ground. "This is a wild goose chase, and it's going to get us killed."

"No it's not." Mylo answered, surprised. "We are going to save Iroh."

"Iroh's not there." Satsudi said softly. "I don't know where he is, but it's not there. Look, we are in way over our heads. We aren't even soldiers yet. We can't do this."

"We can do this, Satsudi." Nile said to his friend. "Just believe in yourself a little."

Satsudi let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't get it! None of you do! Not even you, Nile. Maybe you can do it. Maybe. But I can't. I'm not like you guys. I'm not really a soldier, I'm just a kid pretending. I don't want to be here. I don't want to do this. I can't do this."

"You can, Satsudi." Nile said desperately. "We promised we would get through this together and be soldiers. We are going to do that."

"I'm not like you!" Satsudi said, a tear rolling out of the corner of his eye. "I can't do this stuff. You guys have been getting stronger, getting better, becoming soldiers. I haven't gotten anywhere. I don't belong here. The only reason I haven't quit already is because we made that stupid promise, but I'm done!" He paused then added softly, "I don't want to die." Without another word he followed Zarai into the darkness back towards the base.

"Satsudi, wait!" Nile yelled. He made to run for his friend, but Fai caught him and said, "Stop, Nile. Let him go. Nothing you can say will convince him to come back. At least this way he is safe."

Nile let the fight go out of him as his friend left him. Mylo wanted to give him some sort of comfort, but she already knew in her heart that there was little that she could say that would help. So instead she said huskily, "Let's go. Iroh needs us." The group followed silently, too stricken by what had just happened to say anything.

I know this one wasn't all that exciting, but like I mentioned above, it's setup for next chapter where some shit is going to go down. Hopefully I will have that chapter up two days from now, if I don't fall any more off schedule than I already am. So see you soon, hope you guys are doing well, and thanks for reading! Bye!