And now for part 2 of the "in the dark" duo. This one has all of the crazy batshit stuff, so prepare yourself. Enjoy!

Chapter 26- Rescue Iroh Part 5: Killing in the Dark

Ozai let out a shuddered breath. He slumped down against the metal wall of the ship, relieved at his luck.

He couldn't believe that he had made it this long. For almost a week he had been hiding on this ship, completely unseen. He had stolen food and water when he needed it, and stayed out of the way as much as he could. He had been seen a couple of times, since it was virtually impossible to avoid everyone in an encased metal can, but he was tall for his age so he hoped he had only given off the impression of being a cabin boy. No one had mentioned his name or seemed to have recognized him, so he assumed it had worked.

The one person he was truly scared of seeing was General Sha. The man was cunning, and Ozai had no doubt that his face would be easily recognized by the general. But the scary reality is, to make sure he wasn't seen, Ozai had to know where Sha was at most times, and that meant that sometimes he had to follow the man rather closely. It was a huge risk, but Ozai was finding that he often couldn't resist it. He just loved the idea that the General had no idea he was there. If he could fool Sha, then maybe he could eavesdrop and spy on anyone, even his father. That was a wonderful and irresistible dream in Ozai's mind, never far away in his thoughts on the ship.

But following Sha truly was risky. Ozai had discovered that the man was unnaturally paranoid and perceptive, and he had nearly caught the young boy several times.

Like now.

Ozai could have sworn he had been seen this time. There was no way that Sha hadn't seen him. He had turned around on a dime and Ozai had barely had time to move out of sight around the corner. But he suspected that part of him had been seen. Hearing the heavy metal boots take one slow step at a time until they were mere inches away from where Ozai was hiding around the corner of the hallway had been truly frightening. He had been so certain that he had been caught, that his time was up. But Sha had turned back around and kept walking.

Ozai knew he probably should have let things be, but he needed to follow Sha right now. He had heard General Sha talking to the captain moments before that they were getting really close to land and that they would be dropping off Sha soon. Ozai already knew that the ship's sole mission was to deliver Sha to the Earth Kingdom so that he could hunt down Iroh's captors and bring the Prince home. That meant that there would only be one chance to get off, and that was in the brief moment when Sha was exiting the ship. It would last thirty seconds at most, and it would be a miracle if Ozai wasn't seen leaving with the General. So Ozai had to find a way to covertly slip by notice and get off the ship and onto land. And if that somehow worked, Ozai's plan was simply to follow the General from a distance and let the dangerous Fire Bender lead him to his brother.

So Ozai followed the General for the next hour as best he could. Sha visited his room and was inside for several minutes while Ozai waited farther down the hallway out of sight within an unlocked supply closet, with the door ajar so he could keep somewhat of a watch of his target. Sha left in full uniform, as befitting a General that was about to meet another high ranking officer. He also had a single bag with him. Probably clothes, but Ozai didn't really care that much.

Sha made his way to the front of the ship, where the gangplank would drop down onto the dock that Ozai had heard mentioned a couple of times. Ozai followed at a distance, trying not to seem like he was following when anyone passed by. At the exit, two Firebenders arrived to escort Sha down, but he waved them away, saying that there was no need. Ozai was fine with that. That was two less people who could catch him leaving.

After waiting for what felt like a long time but probably wasn't, the time finally came. There was a hiss of steam, then the metal opened up and slid gently forward, landing on the wooden dock below. Sha marched forward, and Ozai knew that now was the moment. He dashed forward as quietly as he could manage, and peered outside. There was a handful of people awaiting Sha below, looking up. Ozai realized that he needed some way of being unseen, or he would be caught.

Thinking quickly, Ozai tried the only thing he could think of that might distract them. It wasn't likely to work, but it was something. He pulled off one of his boots, took careful aim, and threw it into the water nearby the dock. As soon as he heard the splash, he ran forward and jumped off into the water. As he had hoped, all of the heads had turned to see what had caused the splash, giving Ozai the tiniest window of opportunity.

The luckiest thing that could have happened to Ozai then happened. As he landed in the water in between the dock and the ship, almost under the gangplank, his much larger splash was hidden by a louder noise. The ship's gangplank began to rise with a loud hiss, now that its mission was completed. No one had heard a thing of Ozai's escape.

Ozai's head broke the surface under the dock. He grabbed onto one of the sturdy logs that held the dock in place. he turned around to see the ship beginning to drift back out to sea, picking up speed. Ozai wanted to laugh out loud. He had actually done it! Maybe now he could start getting some respect from Father.

"Welcome to Turtleduck Bay, General Sha." Ozai heard someone say. "And more importantly, welcome to the Earth Kingdom."

"Good to be in this…." Sha paused, looking for the right word. "…place."

"I have already been informed of your mission here in the Earth Kingdom, and I fully support your actions and wish you a speedy success. My men are also very supportive of your mission, and several actually want to contribute directly. They have a score to settle with these assassins, you see."

"I am going to have to decline, General." Sha said. "They must learn to put their duty before their heart, and honestly they would be of no help to me or themselves. They would only get in my way and get themselves killed. Not your fault, of course, seeing as you just became their commander."

"Are you implying that we can't hold our own against those bastards?" Another rather angry voice said.

"You do have a dead commander, two missing soldiers, and no enemy losses to show for how well you can hold your own." Shad replied.

"Why you son of a bitch-" The angry soldier yelled before being cut off. Suddenly he screamed, and Ozai heard a body hit the wood hard.

Ozai's breathing was getting rapid, and his heart was pounding. What had just happened?

"Sha, please refrain from harming my soldiers." The first voice said gently.

"Exercise more discipline among them then, Kuzon." Sha replied. "I think it is time that I leave."

"It was a pleasure seeing you, General Sha." General Kuzon said to Sha. Ozai could hear hints of sarcasm in his voice.

"Surely as pleasurable as it was to see you, General Kuzon." He answered. Ozai heard footsteps, and then Sha was gone. Ozai kept an eye on the tree line to see which way Sha was going. He needed to follow the scary general to have any chance of finding Iroh.

"Okay, guys, let's get him up." Kuzon said. Two of his soldiers picked up their fallen comrade, who was still sobbing from whatever Sha had done to him. Ozai watched them leave a different direction.

Finally alone, Ozai let himself relax a little and swam to shore. He was glad that this was over. That was far more tense than he liked. But it was over now. Now it was time to turn his attention back to his mission.

Rescuing his brother.

Satsudi finally caught up to Zarai, in the dark forest. He had heard several noises in the surrounding shadows, and he would rather face them with someone else than alone, even if that someone was Zarai.

In part it was about how scared he was, but in part it was also because of the guilt. He had just abandoned his friends, and justified or not, it was wrong. Maybe if he could get on Zarai's good side he would have someone who didn't hate him.

How could they expect him to go along with their plan? Sure, it was fine for them to go on crazy adventures that would get them killed. They liked that sort of thing, and they were well suited to it. Nile, Iroh, Mylo…..They were brave, good fighters, and even greater people. They were the kind of people that would stick up for the weak and stand up to evil. The kind that would one day be heroes.

But Satsudi wasn't like that. He couldn't do that stuff, or think that way, or be brave. He didn't fit here at all, and had never fit in here. He wasn't a soldier, he was a wimp. He just wanted to read and maybe play some Pai Sho every now and then. He was done trying to be something that he wasn't.

But that didn't make abandoning them any less bad, and it didn't make the guilt hurt any less.

"Zarai, wait!" Satsudi said, out of breath as he tried to catch the other trainee.

Zarai paused, and turned around. He glanced around, as if surprised to see only him and expecting to be attacked. "Satsudi, what are you doing?"

"You were right. Going after those psychos is suicide. I'm going back to the base with you."

Zarai regarded him. "Really? Just you? No one else?"

Satsudi shook his head. "They seem pretty determined to go rescue Iroh."

Zarai nodded slowly at this. "I see."

The attack came out of nowhere.

Suddenly, Satsudi couldn't feel his throat. His hands jumped to his neck, trying in vain to figure out the problem. He couldn't breathe. His head was spinning, and he fell to his knees.

Zarai stood over him, smiling wickedly. He swung his leg in a vicious kick that connected with Satsudi's jaw. It sent Satsudi's entire body spinning, and Satsudi heard, and even scarier, felt something crack in his neck. He lay on his side, tears streaming from his eyes and blood streaming from his mouth. It tasted really sharp.

What was happening? Why was it happening?

Using his foot, Zarai rolled Satsudi over so that he was laying on his back. Satsudi looked up above. There were stars everywhere, obscured by several layers of leaves, but poking out through the foliage all over the place above him. The dark shape of the leaves outlined in front of the bright, bright stars created a weird dance in the wind.

So beautiful…

At this point Satsudi was beginning to not feel the blows that Zarai dealt to his body. He knew already that it wasn't worth fighting back. Was this dying?

Zarai finally let up after a while, breathing deep from the adrenaline. He noticed Satsudi watching him. "What?"

"Why?" Satsudi managed to croak out quietly.

Zarai chuckled. "You wanna know why? Because you were just a weak little pawn that was never worth anything. Because Iroh and that little bitch picked a fight with the wrong fucking person. Because you got caught in a war that you should have stayed out of. Because I want to hurt them, and you can help with that. And because I want to watch you fucking die, and this was the easiest way of making sure I got to enjoy the full show." There was a glint in Zarai's eyes now, as if he were deep in the bliss of some sort of killing high.

"You know they were lying to you the entire time, right? Iroh and Mylo? Iroh is actually the fucking Prince. Bet he never told you, did he? Why trust you? You aren't worth shit and you know it. And that other bitch, she was a bitch the whole time. A girl! Sleeping in our barracks! Get your pecker going up a bit, right? But no, she never had eyes for you, so don't waste your time. She has a nose for the money. She knew who had the deepest pockets, and that was your buddy Iroh. But she doesn't have a nose for the victor, does she? She couldn't figure out that I would win in the end. You are just the first part, buddy. I am going to fuck up their entire lives. They didn't know who they were messing with, and now they are going to pay. Starting with you."

Zarai raised a boot. "Hope you find better friends wherever you go from here." He brought the boot down on Satsudi's face and then everything was blackness.

Surprise reveal that will excite superfans? Check. Crazy plot twist that will leave some readers sobbing in shock? Check. New POV from an unconventional source? Check. Epic cliffhanger that will leave many jaws dropping to the floor? Check. Emotional drama from off and on romantic couple? Dammit, I knew I was forgetting something.

Soooooooooo yeah. That happened. As far as part one of this chapter, I have been planning Kuzon to come in for quite a while, and I have kept the new commander nameless so I can drop the name at just the right time, and this felt like it was it. Ozai's whole part flowed a lot better than I was expecting and I'm glad that it worked out well. As far as part two, I just wanted some things to start hitting the fan, and I think I did a good job of that. Be honest, who was expecting it? Anyone? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Hope you liked it, thanks for reading!