New Chapter! Sorry it took so long to get this one up! I had an idea for the beginning and middle.. but as for the ending?...nothing was coming to me. So I gave it a rest for a little bit, focused on school work (cuz Lord knows THAT's been killing me) and then BOOM inspiration hit for MANY stories/chapters! Enjoy! RXR
Chapter 27 – Something Odd
The kids and Hakoda all woke up early the next morning to see Sokka and Suki off. They would be going to get the rest of the Kyoshi warriors, and then joining the rest of the Gaang for the invasion. Sokka parted from his sister's hug, and climbed up Appa's tail, heading for the reins.
"We'll see you guys soon. We'll meet up with you in three days. You guys be safe. Yip yip Appa." The bison did not get far from the temple before an arrow shot out of seemingly nowhere, missing Katara's head by just inches. It set itself into a nearby pillar, and the entire group turned, looking for the source in the early morning light.
"Who's there!" Zuko stepped protectively to Katara, fists ready to throw an attack.
"You'll get yourself killed doing that." The voice was quiet and low as it spoke.
"Show yourself!" Hakoda called out, his hand reaching for the knife at his waist.
Toph ran her foot across the ground in front of her, trying to spot where their intruder was coming from.
"Over there!" she pointed at just the right second as another arrow shot out and Zuko quickly swung his arm, a wall of fire deflecting it.
"Who are you?" Aang stepped forward this time, his grey eyes scanning the shadows the arrow had come from.
"All these questions…such a waste of time."
"Oh no…" Katara whispered, her body stiffening.
"It's not a safe idea for a firebender to jump out in the line of fire like that…" a bird call sounded and Aang was the next to stiffen, while Katara grabbed Zuko's arm. The voice chuckled bitterly.
"It's too bad you never decided to stay with me Katara... you could have been on the winning side."
"Jet." Katara's voice was both flat and threatening as the boy stepped forward from the ledge he was on, smirking his same smirk at the group.
"What are you doing here?" her voice was angry, as her hand tightened on Zuko's arm, willing herself to not run out and attack Jet.
"Oh, you mean you haven't heard? He's with me now…" The new voice came from Azula, as she stepped forward from the shadows, a cold smile playing on her lips.
"Azula! What are you doing here?"
"It's all thanks to my new tracker…he's very skilled. Why it took him practically no time at all to find you. Of course your lemur friend was of some help… it's a rather good thing he's hungry."
Zuko stepped forward from the group, surrounding his arms in fire. Azula and Jet however, did not move.
"That's not a very smart idea brother. You see: we're not alone." She looked to Jet as he whistled once more, and the ground swept out from under them, a group of Dai Li rushing to their sides to catch them in stone. Toph was the only one to catch herself, and attempted to fight, but unfortunately became distracted with the two in front of her, not realizing until too late, the cloth being brought up from behind her and wrapped over her nose and mouth. She fell with a dull thud as Aang yelled out, before he too was knocked out with another cloth of the putrid smelling substance. One by one the group went out. As they tied the group in ropes and loaded them into the airship Azula had waiting, she stopped the Dai Li, ordering him to leave the unconscious Hakoda against the stone fountain.
"Leave him… we have what we need."
Katara awoke groggily, sitting in a hard chair, her hands weren't tied behind her back anymore, but her water skin was gone. Her vision finally came into focus to see a room dimly lit by green lights. She turned her head, seeing the rest of her friends already awake, Zuko staring at her intently, as if he had been trying to wake her with his mind.
"Zu-Zuko?"
"You're awake. Good."
"Where are we?"
"It seems like we're underground. Really really deep underground…" Toph answered her question, running her feet along the floor. "But it's also kind of wet…so I can't see really well. It doesn't really matter though, we're so far down I couldn't get us up in time without the guards coming in.."
"Wait…where's Dad?"
"They didn't take him with us…Azula left him behind. I woke up on the airship…Jet was asking her why she left him. She said we didn't need him." Aang was looking towards the ground as he spoke, trying to contain his anger. The silence in the room was broken as a door from behind them was opened, and Jet stepped in. He wore his smug smile as he walked in and stood in front of them.
"Look what we caught. An Avatar…a fire nation prince…a fugitive…and a water bender."
"That's Master Jet." Katara practically spit his name with venom, glaring at him. He only continued to smirk, crossing his arms.
"Just be glad it's me in here, and not Azula." His eyes flashed to Zuko, looking him up and down. "It's a shame you'll never make it to the Fire Lord-"
"I don't get it Jet…You hate the Fire Nation…Why on earth are you working for it now?"
"Simple…I've learned just how good power can be." He smiled, making his way around Katara like a vulture-griffin.
"You mean evil." Jet only chuckled at her retort, standing in front of her once more to study her.
"You know Katara…you've always been smart. But sometimes you can be really stupid. Azula isn't evil. She's just completely committed to ridding this world of the weak and useless. See, that's where I was going wrong. I was trying to get rid of the good, powerful, people. But why? Heck…when Azula and I finish what needs to be done, I'll be right by her side, practically ruling this world with her."
"You're wrong Jet." Zuko glared at the boy in front of him. "Azula won't keep you. She'll toss you aside, just like she does with all her friends. You're a pawn, Jet." Jet's mouth twitched slightly at the corner, before he turned to Katara, standing over her, a strange dark glint in his eye.
"It's a shame you left me Katara…You could always come with me… you could be right at the top with us." He bent down, grabbing her chin and placing a kiss on her lips. Her eyes opened wide in shock, pulling away from him. Zuko made to stand, but before he could even get up from his seat, Katara's landed to the ground with a large clatter, as she bolted up. There was a loud, sickening crunch as fist met jaw, her fist moving at lightning speed. Jet stumbled back, holding his mouth.
"No…" Katara panted in anger, wishing she had her water-skin with her. "It's a shame I didn't finish you off on the island when I had the chance!" She charged at him again, reeling her fist back to strike. Jet managed to dodge and she struck again, her hand catching his fist. He smirked at her and her anger only grew.
Suddenly, she felt something odd as her anger bubbled inside her chest…it seemed something else was bubbling with her. Jet's smirked slipped away as his arm fell limply by his side, regaining its motion again in a few seconds. He grabbed his wrist, rubbing it as he studied Katara suspiciously, and…was that a glint of fear in his eyes? He backed out of the room, watching them as he did so, and locking the door behind him.
"Katara.." Zuko rushed to her side, holding her shoulders. "What-..are you okay?"
"I'm fine…I-" Katara paused, staring at her hands. What on earth had just happened? "I'm just tired…I'm just imagining things is all.." she shook her head to clear it, giving Zuko a small smile.
"I'm fine. Let's just figure out how we're going to get out of here.."
I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for more!
And... if you want more stories, go check out my profile, where I have other Avatar stories, a Beauty and the Beast story, AANNND... a newly started Alice In Wonderland story!
Happy Halloween! :D
