Chapter 51 – Prison Break

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar – the Last Airbender (or Prison Break)


"So, you're not dead?" Jiang asked.

"No, I'm not!" Kang frowned, trying to keep up with his brother's pace. "I'm slightly offended that you of all people would think that one rotten arrow could kill me."

"It sure knocked you down good", Jiang argued.

"It has poison in it!" Kang defended his pride. "Who told you I'm dead anyway?"

"A messenger sent by Masa", Jiang answered matter-of-factly.

"I didn't send any messenger", Masa replied, confused.

"Oh, right", Lin drawled, grinning innocently. "That'd be me…"

They all stopped; Jiang in the front, Kang and Masa behind him with Lin between them secured by Masa's iron grip.

"You", Jiang seethed, his jaw clenched. "You?"

"The messenger, you know", Lin averted his eyes.

"And what were you doing in the forest?" Masa asked.

"I was chasing someone", Lin averted his eyes too.

"Who?" Masa asked again.

"Nobody."

"And what the hell happened to the forest?" Jiang barked. "Do you have anything to do about it?"

"A little", Lin drawled guiltily.

"A little?" Jiang's voice trembled with anger. "You know, when a normal father finds his son lying unconscious inside a burning forest when he thought his son was safe and sound in their home in the other nation, it is usually more than just a little. What. Happened?"

"Can't say", Lin replied with low voice. "Not yet, anyway."

"This is a crime you've done, son", Jiang said with an authoritative tone. "Travelling outside the nation without a pass, impersonating a soldier, interfering with a military campaign by giving false information, destruction of a vast amount natural resource! You—!"

Jiang looked away, making a gesture between wanting to hit the boy in front of him or slap his own forehead. Not wanting things to get physical, he took a deep breath to calm his nerve before speaking again.

"You will be treated as a prisoner from now on", Jiang decided. "When we return home you will be court-martialed and, judging from the gravity of your doing, you can expect some happy time in prison!"

"Now, wait a minute", Kang protested. "You can't be serious about this!"

"There must be a way", Masa reasoned calmly.

"No, there isn't!" Jiang barked, throwing his hand at the black scar on the green mass of land east of Senlin. "Look at THAT! This is way too big for us! How can we even explain this to the Council!"

"We can say that…" Lin shrugged, drawling. "… I was looking for… some nightshades…"

"You sly devil", Kang muttered under his breath.

"It won't work", Masa whispered, looking around to make sure that nobody was listening.

"It will", Lin whispered back. "But, we gotta do this the hard way."

"I don't know", Jiang put a hand on his forehead; all this assassin business was starting to annoy him. "We'll talk later. For now, you two put him in the prisoner's tent."

Jiang walked away, leaving his two brothers with his son, who soon assumed their march to the rather big tent in the middle of the encampment.

"Why should I be the dead guy?" Kang asked.

"No reason", Lin avoided.


"The whole forest?" Iroh gaped.

"Not exactly", Piandao corrected, reading from a tiny piece of paper he was holding, a messenger hawk perched on his shoulder. "Just a part of it, although from above it looks like the size of a small island."

"And he caused that much damage?" Iroh asked incredulously. "Alone?"

"Master Jeong Jeong was seen with him", Piandao consulted the scroll. "But… yeah, he caused the bushfire alone, with the help of a strong wind. Master Jeong Jeong didn't even throw a punch."

"But, he didn't do anything to stop the fire, either", Iroh scratched his chin. "Send the word to him: I want to talk to him personally."

"But, sir", Piandao raised a brow. "Wouldn't that be a tad dangerous for all of us? Master Jeong Jeong is a top-priority fugitive."

"You have a point", Iroh concurred, rethinking his decision. "In that case, send him to Bumi. And also send what information we have to Bumi; he can interrogate Jeong Jeong in my place."

"Ouch", Piandao cringed; sympathizing the Deserter's possible fate in the hand of the Mad King. "As you wish, Grand Lotus. What about the boy?"

"I'll find time to talk to him", Iroh pondered. "I may need to hear his side of the story."

"Um… I'm afraid that would be somewhat difficult, sir", Piandao read the scroll. "He has been arrested for impersonating a soldier, among other things."

"This just keeps getting better and better", Iroh sighed.

"I am sure there is a silver lining to all this, Grand Lotus", Piandao tried to cheer him up.

"Oh, but there is, Master Piandao", Iroh smiled. "When I say 'better', I really do mean 'better'."

"Permission to speak frankly, sir."

"Granted."

"I hate that smirk of yours."


Soon after the incident in Senlin Village, the 212th Battalion was called home. The news of devastating damage caused right under their noses had elicited some unfavorable responses from the Fire Nation; be it from the politicians and the military council, from aristocrats or noble families, even from citizens and, of course, environmentalists who had been itching to find any excuse available to poke the government with the concerns regarding the environment. Things didn't seem to bode well, not only for Lin and His father, but also for the government, i.e. the Fire Lord.

"Send order to silence him", Ozai ordered to the dark figure that knelt before his Fire Throne. "I do not tolerate such insubordination. How many men can you spare for this job, captain?"

"We have two agents in their ranks, Your Highness", the dark figure spoke through his white noh mask. "I believe we do not need any additional men for this job."

"Good", Ozai smirked, though the dark shadow that engulfed his face didn't let anyone see this. "Make sure to do this as inconspicuously as possible. I do not need more people whining about these… details."

"Understood, Your Highness", the figure bowed.

"And also", Ozai drawled. "I want you to investigate this… incident at Senlin Village. A member of your division was highly involved, after all."

"Understood, Your Highness", the figure bowed again.

"Good", Ozai nodded. "You're dismissed."

And the figure vanished… leaving Ozai alone in his Throne Room with a satisfied grin on his face.


"Wha— Come one, Uncle Kang!" Lin spat some chewed food in his mouth. "I thought you of all people would understand the joke!"

"But, must you report me as a KIA?" Kang huffed. "Why not him?"

"Don't drag me into this", Masa sighed, shoving Kang's finger off his face.

"Simple: Uncle Masa's too smart to be KIA", Lin shrugged, taking a bite of dumpling off Biao's hand.

"Well, that's true— Hey!" Kang huffed again.

"In any case", Bing wiped Lin's dirty mouth with a handkerchief. "Though what you did is terribly wrong, we'll talk about that later, I can't believe Jiang would actually put you in a jail like this."

"Dad's just doing what must be done, Aunt Bing", Lin shrugged, still chewing.

There were sitting on the floor of a dirty local prison cell. After their arrival back in the Fire Nation Capital, Lin was promptly thrown in a local prison like a criminal. It had been two days since their arrival and it would be a few days before they could prepare a decent holding cell in the Imperial City's Prison Tower and at least a week more before the Military Council could prepare themselves for a court martial. That day, Kang had decided to visit Lin in his cell after much pestering from his wife and daughter. On their way to the prison, they ran into Masa and Shi who had just finished arranging the battalion's admin stuff prior to their return and decided to drag the father and son along with them to the prison, just for the heck of it.

"I mean, look at how dirty this place is", Bing threw a disgusted glance around, yelped a bit at some creature that flashed to the hole in the corner of the cell. "Are you even fed properly?"

"Oh, I am", Lin nodded, chewing more rigorously. "But, the food is… not really food. Thanks for bringing me something to eat, by the way."

"Don't talk with your mouth full", Biao chided in, picking some chewed meat on the boy's cheek. "What kind of trouble did you cause, anyway? I've never seen Uncle Jiang so mad since you put rats on a box and gave it to him as birthday present."

"I've never done something like that", Lin frowned.

"Huh?" Biao pondered for a bit, then a realization dawned to her. "Oh right… it was me. You gave him a box full of cockroaches."

"You guys did what?" Bing cut in, a dangerous glint was apparent in her eyes.

"N-nothing, nothing at all", Biao let out a guilty giggle.

"It was her idea!" Lin decided to save himself, pointing at Biao with his cuffed hands. "I was just an accomplice!"

"What! Not true!" Biao exclaimed.

"Kids!" Bing raised a hand, silencing them. "How many times do I have to tell you: never use animals when playing pranks on Jiang! Use plants instead; he's allergic to pollen."

"We couldn't find any, Mom."

"Yeah. And he's a man; men don't give another man plants."

"Okay!" Kang interrupted. "Back to the topic. What exactly happened back there?"

"Visiting time's over!" a guard came in before any of them could say a word.

"Could you give us another minute?" Kang bargained.

"I'm sorry, sir", the guard shook his head. "I can't. This is a first-class prisoner we have here. Just allowing visitors alone is already pushing it too far."

"It's okay, Uncle Kang", Lin sighed. "You can come back tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, we'll see about that", Kang got up, glaring at the innocent guard.

"Oh, here!" Biao started to stuff as much food as she could into Lin's mouth. "Don't waste food. Here, eat as much as you can!"

"Hmmph… HMMPHH!"

"Biao", Shi nudged her shoulder. "You're killing him."


"You should return now, Master Piandao", Iroh said, strolling in the hallway with the swordmaster at his side.

"Already?" Piandao cast a gaze on the noon sky. "Well, I do prefer Shu Jing's vast plain than Imperial City's stone roads. Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?"

"Just one thing", Iroh lowered his voice. "Be ready to receive the kid along with a group of people. Things have taken a rather strange twist."

"A group? How many?"

"Oh, not so many", Iroh waved it off nonchalantly. "A couple? Maybe more… nine or ten, give or take."

"How many?"

"…ten."

"It never fails to scare me the extent of your unpredictability", Piandao sighed, bowing politely to the older man.

"And it never fails to impress me the extent of your patience and compassion", Iroh bowed back. "Thank you for putting up with me so far, old friend."

"Of course I have to put up with you", Piandao started to walk toward the exit. "You know too much about my darkest secrets."

"Pleasure doing business with you", Iroh shouted, laughing just before Piandao vanished at the corner.


"—ma'am, you can't just barge in here! This prisoner is—"

A loud bang and thudding later, the door to the dungeon was suddenly slammed open, the warden flew in and landed unceremoniously on the floor.

"P-please, ma'am…! You can't just—"

"Young master!" a young lady burst in.

"Hey, Ning Ma", Lin grinned, squirming to the jail bars like a caterpillar. Apparently, not only his hands, but also his legs and knees were cuffed.

"Oh, young master", Ning Ma started to sob, rubbing her young master's dirty face lovingly through the bars. "What have they done to you?"

"What? Oh, this", Lin gesture his cuffed limbs. "Oh, it's nothing really. This is what you get for kicking the warden in the private area. Heh…"

"You can't—", the warden tried to argue again but…

—THUDDED—

"Uh…" Lin cringed at the warden and his assailant. "Not the nose, Lady Wen. He's still feeling my left jab from yesterday."

"Oh, hey there little friend", Lady Wen waved cheerfully with one hand while the other hand was holding the terrified warden by the collar. Turning to the incompetent guard who had almost wet himself, Lady Wen's expression and tone transformed into the more dangerous version. "So, here the deal: you open that cell now or I'll ram it open myself… with your head."

"Y-yes, ma'am…" the warden gulped. Lady Wen let him go and he quickly crawled to the cell with a bunch of keys he pulled from his pocket.

"And next time, don't you dare question any warrant bearing the imperial seal!" Lady Wen gave him a kick in the butt. She then turned to Lin. "Could you believe this guy? Your dad went all the way to get a special permit to visit you from General Iroh but this guy (another kick) won't let him pass. Hmph!"

"And speaking of which", Lin raised a brow. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he's outside rehearsing his speech for when he sees you", Lady Wen gestured the door with her thumb, just as the warden finally found the right key and opened the cell door, allowing Ning Ma to burst in and him to run to the corner. "We got bored, so we just decided to bust in. So, how're you doin'?"

"Same old", Lin raised his cuffed hands, squeezed by Ning Ma. "Toilets are a bit rough, though. Phew…"

"Aww… poor baby. Here, let Auntie Wen work something out with this nice gentleman", Lady Wen smiled like an angel at Lin yet glared like the queen of all she-devils from the 18th level of hell at the gibbering wreck of a warden on the corner of the room. "Yo, guard! C'mere for a sec!"

"Are you hurt anywhere, Young Master?" Ning Ma asked Lin tearfully.

"I'm fine, I'm fine", Lin assured her. "Where's Dad, anyway?"

"He's just outside", Ning Ma answered, wiping her tears. "He thought that you'd be mad at him for this."

"Nah… I understand", Lin scoffed. "So tell him to come in already."

"Go easy on him, okay", Ning Ma said before she walked to the exit. "He spent the whole morning in the kitchen cooking your favorite dish."

"That explain why he didn't come with Uncle Kang", Lin sighed. "Lady Wen, that guy's half dead already."


"Alright, alright", Iroh clapped his hands loudly, trying to make himself noticed by the two kids. "Prince Zuko, Princess Azula! Stop fighting already!"

It wasn't much of a fight, considering that Azula was the one sitting on Zuko who was lying on his stomach and having his arm locked behind his back. But, Iroh thought it'd be best if he spared the prince's dignity, if there was any left, that is…

"Why?" Azula whined. "I'm winning."

"There is no victory to be found from assaulting a downed opponent, Princess", Iroh replied patiently.

"I'm not downed!" Zuko yelled.

"And humility is a virtue every warrior must possess", Iroh sighed. Why did he agree to train these two at the same time…? He wondered how Lin ever managed to handle these two royal pains— siblings, sorry; not only that, Lin appeared to be quite good too since Azula and Zuko showed such tremendous improvement in their firebending and martial skills since the last time Iroh saw them before the war. Iroh, however, still thought that managing an army is much easier than training Azula and Zuko; at least when soldiers misbehaved, Iroh could threaten them with death.

"Come on, now kids", Iroh chided in. "This is a firebending spar, not a wrestling match."

"But Lin said we gotta do everything we could to survive", they both replied.

"Huh?" Iroh gaped; all admiration he felt earlier for Lin shrunk. "Yes, putting that aside, it's already noon. We're going to visit your teacher in the prison, right? We better get ready now if we want to make it in time."

Grumbling, both kids got up on their feet. Bowing curtly, Zuko ran to his room quickly, Azula, however, remained in the yard.

"What did Lin do anyway, Uncle?" Azula asked. "I find hard to imagine that a member of a noble family would be thrown to the slammer this easily."

"I don't know the details myself, Princess", Iroh sipped his tea calmly, convincing himself that he wasn't lying completely: he did know something but it was merely a third-person version of the story he got from Piandao's source, not the firsthand confession from either Jeong Jeong or Lin.

"So now he's a criminal", Azula pouted. "Why do we have to visit him?"

"Don't you want to visit him?" Iroh smiled slyly; he knew the princess wouldn't want to pass a chance to sneak out of the palace and its mundane routine."

"I've never said I don't wanna go", she grumbled, her cheeks blushing.

"It's settled, then", Iroh got up, stretching his weary back. "Go and washed up. We'll leave in fifteen minutes."

Though she despised taking order from a 'failure', Azula didn't feel like arguing with the most insensible man in the whole nation. So, she decided to let go of her pride this time (there's time for this course of action, said her daddy once) and followed her brother's trail out of the yard; leaving Iroh alone with his well-deserved moment of peace with his tea.

"Kids", he muttered into his teacup. "Can't hate them, yet can't stand them sometimes."

"Can't disagree to that, General", Bara replied.

"How's the preparation?" asked Iroh.

"Everyone's ready, sir", Bara whispered. "I have contacted him in his cell and he said that he didn't want any help getting out."

"That's fine", Iroh pondered. "It will be too conspicuous if we involved an outsider. The Fire Lord would simply blame the Lin Family."

"Are you sure you don't want us to help, General?" Bara insisted. "We can at least send Taka as a rear support and—"

"There's no need for that, Bara", Iroh interrupted; his tone, kind it might be, was authoritative. "You have done enough. I have prepared a ship for you and your friends. You should all leave and attend to your families until further notice."

"And when will that be, General?"

"Months… Years… I'm not sure myself", Iroh shrugged. "When it comes to Lin, you simply can't assume anything. But, I'm pretty sure you and your friends can expect a rather long vocation with your loved ones."

"But, General", Bara hissed. "Can't we—"

"No, you can't", Iroh cut in with a conclusive tone. "This is the most you can do for now. We will leave the rest to Chey and the others. You are dismissed."

"B-but…" Bara was about to argue again, but she also sensed that Iroh's decision was unshakeable. "If you say so, General."


"Okay… what else?" Lin rolled his eyes upward, raking his brain and munching food noisily. "Try to get a permission to expand your battalion; go for a tank unit and medic squad. If possible, get the tank unit from the late General Shu's battalion; he had some of the best tanks in the whole army."

"And for the medic?" Jiang asked, taking mental note on his son's suggestion while Lady Wen busy stuffing food in Lin's mouth with Ning Ma helping her holding the plates.

"*munch* Just get some fresh recruit from the Imperial Reserve", Lin replied with puffy cheeks. "Your old medic squad can give them more advanced training."

"You make it sounds like there's gonna be a big battle soon", Lady Wen frowned, shoving rice with a pair of chopstick.

"There will be", Lin's voice was barely audible in the midst of all the chomping.

"How do you know that?" Lady Wen asked, sounded interested.

"*gulp* Just calculation. Aaaahhh…" Lin opened his mouth wide, allowing Wen to scoop more rice into it before continuing. "*munch* It's based on the theory of 'Economy of War'. War brings profit to the victor by two means: the spoils of war and the conquest of enemy territories. But, since the Fire Lord let his officers keep any spoils they gain from the battle, the real national income comes from the taxes the government impose on the conquered people. And, here's the good part: we've been losing a lot of territories lately in the Earth Kingdom but we've also been drafting more and more soldiers into the army. We're losing more income sources and yet adding more to our expenses for the military. Sooner or later, we'll be conducting a large-scale campaign again, trust me."

"Err… I kinda lost you in the 'Economy of War' part", Lady Wen grinned.

"Want me to repeat?" Lin sighed. What is it with women and the art of war, he asked himself. Chicks can be a total airhead when it comes to warfare strategy and politics.

"Nope, no need. I can just ask him later", Lady Wen pointed at the innocent Jiang with her chopsticks.

"Ugh… you're just looking for an excuse to spend more time together", Lin accused, cringing with disgust.

"Wha… Pfttt… Wha… Huh... No, I am not!"

"Somebody's blushing. Hmmph!" singsonged Lin before a large piece of meat invaded his mouth.


"Get the boat ready", Chey ordered, standing on a tall rock on the beachside. "Come on Chit Sang! Use that big muscle of yours!"

"Come closer and I'll use this big muscle of mine!" Chit Sang yelled, carrying a large crate into a ship. "Come down here and help!"

"I'm busy, cousin", Chey tried and failed to hide his smirk, scanning the afternoon sky.

"Yeah, with what?" another soldier, also carrying a crate, retorted. "Cloud reading?"

"Close", Chey replied, extending his fist forward, letting a messenger hawk land on the back of his fist. He reached out to the tube strapped on the bird's back and pulled out a scroll. "Double up, people! Our cargo's coming!"


"I am not sure about leaving him behind", Taka sighed, looking back at the Imperial city that grew smaller and smaller as their ship sailed east to their first stop in Shu Jing. "Are you sure we can't help him, Master Piandao?"

"Oh you can, alright", Piandao answered from the hut where he was taking on Rocky in a Pai Sho match. "But I won't be responsible for any bodily or mentally injuries you guys might sustained at the hand of a very angry General Iroh."

"…Okay, point taken", Taka looked down.

"By the way, boys", Piandao suddenly remembered about his conversation with Iroh earlier that day. "You don't know anything about a huge bushfire near Senlin Village a few days ago, by any chance, do you?"

"Heard the kid caused it", Taka shrugged. "Other than that, pretty much nothing. We were near Meitan, waaaay out to the south when it happened. We saw the smoke, though."

"So did Commander Kang's force", Bara added, watching the match from behind Rocky's back "That was why he pulled out immediately despite being wounded and half-conscious from Taka's poisoned arrow."

"Yeah", Taka added. "He's one tough cookie. The dose on that arrow was enough to take down an elephant-bear for twelve hours. But, maybe I coated the arrow with the wrong poison; let me check."

"I told you to keep your stuff organized, lazy bum", Bara chided at Taka who was busy rummaging his rucksack. "Imagine what could have happened had you used lethal poison?"

"No worries, I don't have any lethal poison. Used the last bit for dinner two weeks ago", Taka took out a bunch of tiny bottles with different colored caps.

"Hunting", Bara and Rocky answered Piandao's unasked question; the swordmaster replied with an 'o…'

"This is the one I used", Taka pulled the bottle with red cap; he opened it and sniffed the content. "Hmm, thought so. Wrong bottle."

"What's that one then?" Bara asked, curious.

"…uh-oh. This is the right one, after all", Taka muttered.

"How can you tell?" Piandao asked.

"Cause… I'm dizzy…" was all he said before falling sideway off the railing.

"Fat! Take out the net and fish him up! Quick!" Piandao yelled frantically at his butler who was manning the ship.


"Travelling abroad without a pass", Zuko said, wanting to be sure.

"Travelling abroad without a pass", Lin confirmed. "…And also impersonating a soldier, falsifying army intelligence, spreading the rumor that my uncle's dead, and causing a bushfire the size of the Imperial City."

"And all in one day", Azula sighed, shoving a piece of meat bun to Lin's mouth. "Nice."

"Oh, come on", the always positive Ty Lee chirped in. "It can't be that bad."

"Yeah not bad at all", the always negative Mai replied sarcastically. "He's chained from head to toe, Ty Lee!"

"Oh, actually I got this for attacking the guards", Lin said, waving his cuffed hands.

"Why would you attack the guards?" Zuko asked.

"Well, it gets pretty boring down here", Lin replied nonchalantly.

"I can try to work something out, if you want", Iroh offered kindly while the other kids laughed.

"Nah, it's okay", Lin shook his head, taking a bit off the meat bun in Azula's hand. "*munch* My dad was here earlier and he couldn't get the warden to compromise."

"Your dad? Is that why the warden looks like he has just been attacked by a platypus-bear?" Iroh frowned.

"Yes, and yes", Lin nodded. "Although it's not like what you think: his date did that."

"Ah, yes… the lovely Young Lady Wen", Iroh smiled, reminiscing aloud. "I remember when I first met her; I was paying a visit to her father; she was ten at that time and was practicing martial art with her private instructor in the courtyard. Being an active war general I arrogantly offered to help her with her martial art training; a mistake that I'm still recovering from to this very day. My butt is never the same again since that spar; the left cheek is a little bit crooked if you look at it from above."

"…General, if you don't mind, I'm trying to eat my meat buns."


Later that night…

"Why do we have to move him at the middle of the night, anyway?" A guard, a Royal Procession, grumbled, holding on to a chain that coiled around Lin's hands. Although his legs were no longer bound, his hands were still chained and they had also put a steel muzzle on him to prevent him from breathing fire. Two Royal Procession guards walked at his sides, each were holding on to his chain; another ten local city guards marched behind them armed to teeth.

"Because he's a war hero, idiot", the other Royal Procession, replied. "It'd cause a commotion if we moved him in broad day— Hey, what's wrong?"

Lin suddenly stopped, gagging behind his muzzle; thick white liquid flowed out from it, dripping down to his chin and chest.

"H—he's puking, man!" the guard shouted frantically, checking on their prisoner who was suddenly down on his knees, choking. "Take off the muzzle, hurry!"

With slight effort, the two Royal Procession managed to unlock the metal muzzle, allowing Lin whose face was stained with vomit to breathe more easily. That didn't stop him from throwing up some more though, disgusting the rest of the guards.

"What're we gonna do?" the first guard asked his fellow guard, patting Lin on the back to help him vomit.

"Ask for help!" the other guard yelled at the escort. "Hurry! Some of you run to the nearest hospital and grab a healer. This is General Jiang's kid here; if anything were to happen to him, we're dead meat!"

Half of the escort dashed away, racing to the main road; leaving about five men plus the two Royal Processions, encircling Lin who was still gagging and coughing.

"Hey, you okay, kid?" asked one of the guards, he sounded scared.

"Help me up…" Lin whispered weakly, face full of vomit.

"Sure, sure", he said, gesturing to the other guards to help. Together, they pulled Lin up gently to his feet.

"AARRRGGGHH!" the two Royal Procession at Lin's sides yelled, receiving fire blasts on their chests which Lin delivered by jumping and kicking sideways with a split. Landing rather wobbly on his feet, Lin turned around and spin-kicked fire arc at the nearest soldiers and fire breathed the rest of them. His attacks, though not lethal, managed to disorient the soldiers long enough for him to run.

He managed to run for a few meters, only a few meters, however, before everything went hazy. Feeling his world swaying, the last thing Lin remembered was the world turned upside down and the cold dirt road on his cheek before everything went black.

Moral of the story: never get into a fight with a full stomach…


Author's note:

Never fight, or exercise, with full stomach, seriously.

oh, and before you ask: nobody but Lin and the gang know that Taka was the one who shot Kang.

To hpswst 101, very nice noticing the pattern! :)

Also notice that they are all Fire Nation. Fire Nation people in the show kinda strike me as hotheaded and have the 'act before thinking' mindset before they reach Iroh's age. Just an opinion, though.

And, nope; there's no way Bara, Taka or Rocky could have bandaged Kang's wound. They'd get killed before they could even get close. :)

Say, when you said you played taiko, do you mean the drum? Cool!

Have a nice day!