oOo
The soldier came to an abrupt halt as he unexpectedly came upon three figures standing in tense triangle. "Lord Zuko!" he exclaimed as he forced his way through the brush.
He was wearing the dark grays and browns General Tsing had ordered his men to don for this mission, but whether he was one of the men who was supposed to create a diversion or one of the men assigned to the second group, Zuko wasn't sure. The man himself cleared that up. "General Tsing found your father, Lord. And a cart bearing two prisoners."
"So what are you doing here?" Iroh interposed with a frown.
The soldier flashed a triumphant grin. "He sent three of us to scout out the original rendezvous point, since we had found the prisoners' location so quickly. The other two soldiers are standing guard over the traitors who were supposed to bring you to your father."
"And what of our diversionary troops?" Zuko replied, mercilessly quashing the surge of hope that tried to force itself through his system. His father was here, Katara and Toph were alive, and there was a chance less blood would have to be shed than his initial pessimistic estimations.
"We're not sure," the soldier admitted. "But if we hurry, we can join General Tsing before he starts the attack."
Zuko exchanged glances with Aang and Iroh, who nodded curtly. He turned back to the soldier. "Let's go."
oOo
Katara stifled a sigh of boredom. The cart had jolted to a stop over an hour ago, her wrists were swollen and sore from her attempts to free herself or at least loosen her bonds, Ozai was ignoring them, and Toph had apparently dozed off. Nothing had happened since the former Fire Lord jumped down and stalked off to talk in low undertones to the apparent leader of the soldiers they'd joined up with. Katara had already looked the situation over carefully. There were about a dozen more men, in addition to the half-dozen or so who had escorted them and their driver. He had jumped down almost immediately after Ozai and joined their escort in standing a respectful distance from their leader and the soldier he was still conferring with.
"Hsst!"
Katara started at that unexpected sound, then whipped her head around to see Toph no longer slumped against the bamboo bars of their prison, but sitting up more alertly. "Great, Sugar Queen, make it obvious I'm trying to get your attention," she muttered without moving her lips. The sarcasm, however, was unmistakable.
Katara tried to settle herself back into her original position. "Sorry," she mumbled, leaning her head against her arms and tilting her face toward Toph as unobtrusively as possible. Not that anyone was paying any attention to them at the moment, but she knew it would be stupid not to be careful. "What's up?"
"Just making sure you'll be ready."
"Ready for what?" Katara asked, getting a bit exasperated.
"Escape, duh," Toph shot back, still not moving her lips. "We have to be ready when Zuko and Aang get here."
"Or when they bring us to them," Katara pointed out. In case Toph hadn't already thought of that.
Toph shrugged. "I guess, but I think we're already here, that this is the meeting place. Why else just stop and stand around? That is what they're doing, isn't it?"
Katara was forced to agree. "Yeah. I just hope Zuko and Aang have a plan. I mean," she added hastily, "I know they're not just going to surrender themselves while we walk away. And they have to know we would never leave them behind." Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Zuko again, even under these circumstances, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips. The smile turned into a grimace as she pulled once again at her bonds. "But I can't get loose, and you haven't even tried."
"What makes you say that?" Katara looked sharply at Toph at those casually spoken words, her eyes widening as the other girl turned her wrists just enough for Katara to see that they were almost completely cut through. "How did you do that?" Katara gasped.
"The guard who took me out of that stupid cage had a couple of good fortune medals sewn into the cuffs of his uniform; I 'convinced' them to slip into my hands instead, made a blade out of them." The hint of a self-satisfied smirk pasted itself to her lips. "Not too shabby, if I do say so myself."
"Not too shabby," Katara repeated faintly, but she felt the faint hope she'd been nurturing blossom into something stronger.
Toph grinned. "Now the only question is, can you catch?"
"I'll do anything I have to get out of this," Katara replied in a fierce whisper. She cupped her aching hands and stretched them as far as she could toward Toph. "Go ahead."