So this is a short(er) one! I sort of combined a couple of the filler episodes for the sake of time and because a lot of the details aren't pertinent to this story (sorry Sokka). I am already close to being halfway through the next chapter, so expect to see that up soon!
As always, thank you so very much to all of you who have reviewed, favorited, or followed! You guys are the best :)
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Andd.. if you do (or don't) please review!
It was the second day of Sokka's training with Master Piandao. Katara had spent the morning teaching Aang a new waterbending move she had developed. Now, it was afternoon and she was mending a tear in Toph's top – how the blind girl managed to destroy her Fire Nation disguise within days of acquiring it was beyond her. In the valley below she heard Aang and Toph bickering; when they left the campsite not an hour ago, Toph had told Aang they were going to practice 'feeling the earth' today. Undoubtedly, Katara had inferred that this meant throwing rocks at him while his eyes were closed. She could hear pieces of their conversation on the wind.
"That one really hurt!"
"Well, you're supposed to be avoiding them, Twinkle-Toes!"
"How am I supposed to avoid them when I can't see anything?"
"You have to feel it, dummy! This is more than just earthbending; you're the Avatar, you should be able to feel what's going on around you through the earth."
"All I feel is rocks hitting me in the head!"
Toph made a noise of frustration, "We're doing this again tomorrow. Let's take a break."
Katara turned to the two as they climbed back up to the campsite.
"Hey, Toph! I just finished mending your shirt," she held it out, proudly examining her needlework.
The blind earthbender grabbed the shirt with a muttered, "Thanks."
Aang followed behind her, two large bruises darkening his chest and shoulder blade, a picture of despondency. Katara frowned at the two of them; she knew that Toph's teaching methods differed wildly from her own and often involved some degree of injury on Aang's part. She had tried to talk to the earthbender about it before, specifically about positive reinforcement, and that seemed to have helped. Maybe she could offer some advice again?
Approaching Toph, she mumbled, "Don't you think you're being a little hard on him today?"
Toph, despite her lack of vision, shot a glare in Katara's direction, followed by an accusatory finger, "He needs to train harder if he's going to defeat the Fire Lord, Sugar Queen. We're running out of time."
Katara instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, trying to suppress the annoyance rising in her; Toph had a way of pushing her buttons sometimes. "I know that. All I'm saying is maybe showing him what he's supposed to be doing and explaining it might be helpful before you start throwing rocks at him. When you learn how to swim, you watch first and then you start in shallow water. If you try to learn how to swim in the middle of the deep blue ocean you're just going to drown."
"I can't swim."
"Ok, well, the point is that he won't learn if he drowns, or in this case, if you knock him unconscious with a boulder."
The blind girl, hmphed, turning away. At length, she responded with, "Fine. I'll try approach it a little differently. Is that all you came here to say?"
Pleased with her initial success, Katara smiled. "No, actually I was thinking we could go into town to grab some vegetables for dinner tonight. We didn't get the chance to the other day and I figured that Mai and Ty Lee are probably gone by now. It's hot and I think we could all use a little break right now." She looked up towards the Avatar across the campsite, "What do you think Aang?"
On the other side of the campsite, Aang picked his head up out of his hands and offered her a smile, "Sounds good to me!"
"Let me just heal those bruises and we can get going."
The marketplace was just as lively as it had been during their last visit. She noticed some Fire Nation soldiers standing at the entrance to an alleyway, but reminded herself that they were in disguise and had nothing to fear. Katara scanned the food vendors, searching for ideas for dinner. Maybe stir-fry? She would have to find some tofu for Aang; he had to get plenty of protein to keep up his strength for training.
"Hey, Katara, are you ok over here?" Aang asked her hopefully.
"Yes… why?"
"Toph saw some guys over there playing some kind of game with bowls and we're going to go check it out."
"Ok, just don't get-" Aang was gone before she could say 'into any trouble'.
…
Aang watched in interest as the man sitting behind the table showed the crowd of people gathering around a blue pebble, then placed it under an upturned bowl on the table. He shuffled the bowls and Aang tried to follow the one that contained the pebble. The person who had placed a silver piece on the table pointed to the bowl that Aang had followed and gasped when the man behind the table picked up the bowl to reveal no pebble.
"What? How did he do that?" Aang turned to Toph.
"This is when you seeing people are at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong because the dealer moves the pebble at the last minute. But I can feel it with earthbending." She smiled, mischeviously. "Let's go."
They approached the table as the previous player stood up, having lost his silver coin. The man behind the table looked right at Toph, surely noticing her glassy, clouded eyes.
"You there! Want to play a friendly game?"
"How could I possible play? I'm blind." Toph waved a hand in front of her face, by way of illustration.
"You don't have to see to be lucky."
The blind earthbender shrugged and made a show of her lack of sight; she bent down to feel for the table and, as she sat, reached out to touch to bowls. She pulled out a silver piece and set it on the table.
The dealer showed everyone the pebble, before placing it under one of the bowls. He shuffled and Toph pointed. The bowl was lifted revealing the pebble. "Wow, fancy guessing. You're amazing at this." The dealer smiled, obviously patronizing her. He threw a couple silver pieces onto the table. "Would you like to make the game… a little more interesting?"
"More interesting? How?" Top shrugged, still playing dumb.
"Well, let's say you toss in that nice headpiece you've got there and I'll put up 5 silver pieces against it and that's more interesting." He smiled smugly at her.
"Hm…" Toph said moving her hand to her head to touch her headband, "This is pretty expensive, though. I'll do it for 15 silver pieces." She pulled the headband off her head and placed in on the table while the dealer stacked up 15 silver coins.
This time, before the dealer lifted the bowl that Toph pointed to, he had already started saying, "Sorry, little girl." He was stunned when he realized the pebble was still under the bowl.
The blind girl looked to Aang, "Did I win?"
"Yeah, you did!" He exclaimed as the other onlookers gasped and clapped.
"This is fun!" She replied, smiling at the dealer. "You're right, it's more interesting this way. How about you put down 20 silver pieces against all of my winnings and my headband?"
The dealer grumbled but agreed, surely certain he had made a mistake somehow during the last round. He placed a small money purse on the table as Toph stacked up her winnings.
Toph pointed and there was the pebble. The dealer gaped at her as she put her headband back on. Then she grabbed the coin purse along with all her winnings and they were off, running down the alleyway laughing.
From behind, Aang heard the dealer yell "Cheater!" but they were already around the next corner.
…
June was good at her job. There was a reason she was the most expensive bounty hunter in the four nations, and being employed for the second time by a member of the Fire Nation's Royal Family only reaffirmed this; Even if it was just the pouty Prince. Her reputation was well-known.
She allowed Nyla another sniff at the piece of the blue fabric that the Prince had sent along with his servant. They had been on the trail for most of the day and must be getting close.
Her reputation had come from a combination of success and not asking questions; she did what was asked of her, nothing more and nothing less. As a mercenary, she had no ties to any nation and would take on clients from across the world. Very often, her clients had dubious motives and occasionally their requests were odd, but she always found it very strange that the Prince of the Fire Nation was so interested in the whereabouts of the Water Tribe girl. Sure, he had told her on previous occasions that it was the Avatar he was searching for, but this time it was different. The servant had explicitly told her to find the girl and report on her movements. He'd even left her with a scroll, detailing her mission.
This type of assignment was different from her normal tasks; more often than not she was hired to bring in an escaped criminal or return a lost family member. But, at the end of the day, she accepted assignments that paid; and, whatever his motives, the Prince paid well. He had paid 100 gold pieces upfront and offered more for every piece of information she sent. Whatever it was that he wanted out of this, he valued it highly.
Nyla made a noise that June recognized; they were close. She patted the shirshu on the shoulder, muttering, "Good work, Nyla. Let's-"
She was cut off when Nyla leapt to the side, sliding down a steep rocky slope. June's breath caught in her throat when the ledge they had been on just moments ago exploded, sending a plume of rocks and dust into the air. Nyla skidded down the slope and charged up another.
June frowned, thinking perhaps this was why the Prince had paid such a hefty sum up front; Someone was shooting explosives at her. Cursing, she leaned into Nyla, urging the shirshu onward. When they escaped the dust, June glanced back to see a man with a metal leg and an eye drawn vertically across his forehead. She had heard of this man before and scowled at the memory but wasted no time in avoiding his next attack.
"This way, Nyla," She pulled the reins and they headed towards the man, weaving between boulders and trees that protruded from the cracked rock formations. The next explosion missed them, but not by much, reducing a tree that Nyla had just dodged to splinters. June growled under her breath; this job was worth at least 200 gold pieces. Then Nyla's tongue made contact with the assassin's chest.
…
Miku gasped for air as wave after wave washed over her head. Clinging to her upturned boat, she sputtered when she realized she must have lost all her supplies. She looked around her, hoping perhaps her canvas sack would float, but saw only open ocean. This was when she realized she had lost sight of the island chain. Cursing herself, she wailed into the stormy sky above. She was going to die out here, she was sure of it now. Another wave crashed over her, filling her mouth with salty water.
When she thought things couldn't get any worse, she felt something brush against her leg in the depths below. Her whole body froze, paralyzed with fear. This was it. All of that time spent learning the ways of the Miyuku, communicating with spirits, performing rituals; all that time she spent learning the history of her position and her ancestors; she was going to die out here and become fish food. What would Mimi say? The line of Miyuku was about to end with her, no daughters to pass the spirit onto. Tears welled up in her eyes as she waited for the inevitable pain and darkness of being devoured by whatever monster was lurking in the depths.
Then her knee made contact with taut rope. She kicked out her leg under the boat and realized that her canvas sack was hooked onto something, perhaps the bench, inside of the boat and was suspended below. Relief washed over her along with another salty wave, but the thoughts that had come on with the sudden fear of an impending sea monster attack remained. While it was only her canvas bag this time, there very well could be creatures lurking in the depths that would view her as a tasty snack. She shuddered and realized she had to get out of the open ocean as quickly as possible.
Trying to place the direction she had come from, she let out a frustrated shout; the tipping of the boat had completely thrown off her sense of direction and the dark clouds that had previously loomed before her were now directly overhead. She tried flipping the boat right-side-up again, but instead submerged herself, only to come up sputtering again a moment later. That wouldn't work.
She looked up at the sky and had an idea. Perhaps she could follow the direction that the clouds were moving. They had been coming towards her when she set off, so surely, if she followed them, they would lead her back towards the chain of islands, right? It was her only hope. Still grasping the upturned boat, she started to kick her legs, swimming with the storm. At length, she let out a ragged breath; fighting against the churning sea was exhausting. All of her muscles burned and she felt a cramp coming on in her abs. She couldn't keep this up much longer.
Was it just time to give up? She closed her eyes and rested her head against the underside of the boat. Maybe dying wouldn't be so bad; Maybe it would be like falling into an endless sleep. Sighing, she thought of the temple. She didn't deserve to be a Miyuku. Her great-great grandmother would be disappointed; the woman had been a symbol of hope for their people, always so strong and stable. When the Fire Nation attacked the air temples, she had gathered her people and sent the spirits to help the warriors. She had assured everyone that there was still hope.
Then, there was a voice.
There is always hope, Miku.
It was Mimi. Her eyes shot open and gasped when she saw the island take shape before her. It was a small, lush island that jutted out of the waves. Given how close it was, she expected to feel sand beneath her feat, some kind of shore. But there was only open water. She swam towards the edge of the island, desperate for reprieve. Unhooking the rope ties of her sack from under the boat, she slung the sack over her shoulder and reached out for a rocky edge of the island, but noticed just before her hand made contact, that it wasn't rock at all. Then there was nothing.
…
Katara frowned when she turned the corner towards where Aang and Toph had headed off to earlier. Her hands were full of produce for dinner and she was hoping to get some help carrying things. Seeing a man sitting behind a table with a number of bowls, she figured this was the game Aang had mentioned; perhaps he had seen where they went.
"Excuse me," She approached him, "Did you see two kids come through here? One would have been blind-"
"Oh, those swindlers?" He interrupted, his tone rough. "I've seen them, alright. They went that way."
"Swindlers?"
"Yeah, are you here to pay me back all the money they stole?"
"What? They wouldn't steal!"
"Well, I'm going to let the local authorities figure that out."
Katara scowled. She wouldn't put it past Toph to steal, but Aang?
"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." She replied to the man, determined to find her friends and straighten this out. Following the direction he had pointed, she weaved through alleyways in search of the blind earthbender and the Avatar.
She found them sitting on the ground joking, backs propped up against a fountain in a plaza in the middle of the village. Toph was jingling a coin purse and Aang was bowing to her from his seated position.
"Yes, Siefu. I understand now."
"What's going on?" Katara asked, approaching the two.
"Katara! Wow, you got a lot of stuff for dinner tonight." Aang turned at her voice and eyed the produce in her arms. He bit into an apple and smiled up at her.
"Well, yeah, I was hoping one of you would help me carry some of this stuff."
"Sorry, Toph was just continuing our lesson from earlier. She scammed one of those guys in town who moves the bowls around all sneaky-like. She used earthbending to win the game!"
Katara frowned at the earthbender. "I thought the lesson was supposed to be about feeling the earth, not cheating someone out of their money."
Toph shrugged, "You told me to show and explain instead of throwing him in the deep end. I was just following your advice and it worked; you should be happy. Anyways, he was the one who was cheating. I just cheated a cheater."
She sighed, "I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing."
"Why?" The blind girl asked, "Because it's fun and you hate fun?"
"I don't hate fun!" Indignant, she put down the vegetables and held up three carrots. She threw them into the air, in a failed attempt at juggling, and tried to catch them. "See?" She caught one of the falling carrots and kicked another towards where Aang was sitting before it hit the ground. "Fun!"
Aang chuckled, "I think Toph just means that, well, you're like the mom of the group. You're always taking care of us, sewing up our clothes and cooking meals. You just don't seem worried about having fun."
Katara was still frowning. "I like having fun, ok? I just don't want us to blow our cover." She looked around, as if someone might hear and identify them.
Aang stood up, "Katara, I'll personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams." He bowed, respectfully.
She sighed, in resignation. "Ok, fine." Pointing to a vendor on the outskirts of the plaza, "I'm going to head over there and see if I can get a basket or bag for all this food."
"Here," Toph said, tossing her a silver piece. "Get yourself something nice, Sugar Queen."
Katara's scowl returned, but she took the silver piece and her vegetables and walked over to the vendor displaying an assortment of woven bags in shades of red.
When she purchased a shoulder bag that she had deduced could double to artfully conceal her water pouch, she turned back to find them gone. Katara groaned in frustration.
…
Zuko was sitting in the palace gardens by the turtleduck pond, one of the places his mother used to enjoy. It had become his favorite spot for deep contemplation. He watched absentmindedly as the growing turtleduck chicks flapped their little wings and quacked at each other; his head was elsewhere, planning his next course of action.
His thoughts were interrupted by a servant's approach from behind.
"Prince Zuko?"
"Yes?" He turned and immediately recognized the man he had given special assignment to. "Have you heard anything?"
"Yes, your highness. Shall we go somewhere else to talk?"
Zuko scanned the area and, at length, nodded his head. The gardens were pretty empty, but he knew voices carried over water and he certainly didn't want anyone catching wind of his plans. The servant followed him back to his quarters. When they were safely out of ear shot with the doors closed, he looked expectantly at the servant standing before him.
"My contact in the city received a hawk from the bounty hunter this morning." He pulled a small scroll from the sleeve of his tunic. "Here you are, your highness."
Zuko took the scroll and unrolled it hurriedly, reading as his eyes widened, and then rereading the message again.
"Shit." He grunted, clenching his teeth. The man before him looked frightened, as if he expected Zuko to set him on fire. Zuko frowned and waved him off. "You may leave now."
The servant bowed and hastily exited the room.
He looked down at the scroll again.
I have located the target, but ran into trouble along the way – a Fire Nation assassin. I was attacked upon finding the campsite. Keeping a close eye on the assassin, but this complicates my mission. My price has doubled. Awaiting further instructions.
The target is staying outside of Shu Jing Village on a cliffside in the mountains to the North.
Zuko committed the note to memory before burning it in his hands. He cursed himself – he had nearly forgotten about the assassin with all that was going on; He would have to do something about that. Then, a smirk crossed his lips.
She was in the Fire Nation. Shu Jing was less than a day away in a fast steamer. He strode over to his bed and lifted the mattress, grabbing a bag from a hole in the underside, then set off towards the harbor.
Zuko is coming! What do you guys think of June in this? I really like June as a character - she's a badass - and I really enjoyed writing from her perspective. Is anyone else excited for more Blue Spirit action? I am.
Please let me know what you think! Review? :)
