They hugged the side of the cliffs as they ran back to their towels on the beach.
"How are we going to know where he went?" Katara asked as she ran behind Zuko. Zuko's mouth was set in a grim line. He could not let their carelessness be the reason they were caught.
"Well first, we don't tell Sokka." The boy was great to have in a pinch. Stealthy, though? The Boiling Rock had told him not at all. "This isn't a big island. We'll find him, but we need to do it tonight. Don't wake the others. We have to move quick." He tried to envision what their spar looked like from a distance on shore. The fog, the water bending. Something clicked. He had an idea.
"Katara, have you ever heard of the Blue Spirit?" he asked. Katara was wrapping the towel around herself and paused to look up at him. The name sounded familiar and she remembered seeing posters all over the earth kingdom.
"Yeah, I remember hearing about him in the Earth Kingdom. Some people said he was a spirit, some said he was a thief. I thought it was just a local legend" Katara responded. Zuko looked at her and raised an eye brow.
"Thief, huh? Well, it was true. I was" he admitted. Katara was dumbfounded.
"You? You're the Blue Spirit?" she asked in shock. Zuko nodded sheepishly. Katara grinned and tied the towel around her waist.
"So we've both impersonated spirits. That's something" she said.
"Wait, you've impersonated a spirit?" Zuko asked, surprised. Katara nodded as she remembered.
"I pretended to be the Painted Lady earlier this summer so I could help a small Fire Nation village. The actual spirit appeared to thank me right before we left. Sokka still doesn't believe I actually saw her, but I did. And my costume was actually pretty on point."
Zuko looked deep in thought. He motioned for her to follow him up the path back to the beach house.
"Do you still have the costume?" He asked finally. Katara nodded, she knew she could reconstruct it pretty easily with a few tweaks. "Good. Put on the costume and meet me in the courtyard in 10 minutes. We're going to find that man and figure out what he saw. And we're going to do it all tonight. I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of anyone here because we were careless."
"Why do we need the costumes?" Katara asked. She felt bad that he regretted their spar, but she should've been more responsible and alert. They had all gotten pretty relaxed and it was easy to sometimes forget the were hiding out in the Fire Nation and not some random Earth Kingdom town.
"A fire bender and a water bender will make a stir if they're spotted together. However, two spirits in the shadows? That's the story that works better for us." Zuko answered as he quietly opened the back door. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Wait!" Katara hissed as she grabbed his arm. "We have to tell someone where we're going, on the slim chance that something happens. Because, you know, everything always goes as planned for us."
Zuko thought for a moment. "Suki." he said finally. "I'll tell Suki." Katara nodded. Together they ran into the house and up the stairs. Katara ran to her room and opened the wardrobe that held all of Zuko's mother's dresses. She didn't have the red tarp that she used earlier that summer, but the replacement was guaranteed to be more comfortable.
Zuko knocked softly at Suki's door. He heard the creak of the bed and a moment later Suki cracked the door open.
"Well, you're not Sokka" she said, laughing lightly. Zuko shook his head.
"Katara and I were sparring this evening..." Zuko began. Suki raised an eyebrow and grinned at him. Zuko frowned. "Just sparring" he insisted sharply.
"Right. That's what they're calling it now" Suki teased. Zuko shook his head, frustrated.
"Anyway, someone spotted us and Katara and I have to figure out what he saw. It might be nothing. Or, it could be something and we all have to leave for another hiding place. I want to be sure." Zuko explained quietly.
"Zuko, I'm not trying to be rude, but with your scar you are going to be easily recognized if you're spotted" Suki cautioned.
"That's why I'll be dressed as a spirit with a mask. We'll be back as soon as we can. Hopefully this won't take all night." Zuko said, turning to leave. Suki nodded and put her hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"Be careful" she said softly. "Don't do anything rash and get back safe." Zuko nodded and ran to his room. He quickly pulled out the dark tight pants and hood he had used to be the Blue Spirit before. He slid his dual swords into their case and slung it over his back. The only thing he needed was the mask, and he knew exactly where he would find one. Once he dressed quickly he went out into the hall to wait for Katara.
She stepped out of the room a few minutes later, and Zuko caught his breath. She was wearing one of his mother's dresses. The dress was too large for her, but she had taken some thin rope and cinched the dress around her waist and shoulders. The long sleeves draped elegantly over her arms and the dark color curved flatteringly up to her exposed shoulders. Katara held a large rimmed sunhat that had a veil stitched to its edges.
She caught sight of him in the hallway and glided over to him. "I'm going to the kitchen. I've got to paint the details on my face and arms" she explained. He nodded.
"Meet you in the courtyard" he reminded her. As she slipped downstairs Zuko entered his mother's old room. He headed straight for a painting opposite the wall.
Princess Ursa had loved the theater, particularly the play "Love Among the Dragons." The group that put on the performance on the island every year were notoriously horrible at the art, but Ursa seemed to enjoy it anyway. He knew she had masks of all the characters hidden away in her room, including the one he needed to use tonight.
He pulled the painting from the wall revealing the hanging masks behind it. He looked at the masks for a minute, remembering how his mother had been hiding them when he entered the room as a boy. For some reason, Ursa never let Ozai see the collection. He remembered the look of fear then relief on her face when the door had opened and he had come in announced. The Blue Spirit mask in particular always haunted him, thus why he chose it.
Zuko pulled the mask on and put the painting back on the wall. The Blue Spirit was resurrected for an evening. He quickly slipped down the stairs and back to the courtyard, waiting in the shadows for Katara to appear. When her figure appeared on the porch he would have sworn he was looking at an actual spirit if he didn't know any better.
She spotted him in the darkness, just barely. His black costume faded into the night, making the mask appear as if it were floating in the air on its own. It was a frightening facade, and Katara had to remind herself that it was Zuko beneath the grinning smile of the Blue Spirit. She ran over to him, satisfied with her paint job and feeling exactly like a spirit that moved like the wind.
"Are you ready?" she asked, excitement clipping her voice. Zuko nodded. The paint completed the look. Katara was transformed into the river spirit that he knew from his story books. His gold eyes gleamed beneath the mask and he silently took her hand. Together, they ran from the courtyard and headed for the town.
It hadn't been thirty minutes since the stranger had spotted them sparring. If they were sneaky and lucky, they might be able to spot him returning from the cliffs. They became one with the night, gliding soundlessly across the paths while a circle of fog continually followed them. Katara bended discreetly to keep a constant covering as they moved towards the town. They didn't see anyone on the many paths that led to the beach houses and most of the lights in the homes were turned off.
The two entered the town, but instead of rushing from alley to alley, Zuko led Katara up onto the rooftops. There, they could get a good view of anyone wandering the town while remaining unseen. Most of the shops and buildings were dark. There was tavern at one end that floated a small amount of chatter and music into the night air. Zuko motioned for Katara to stay put as he flipped himself upside down and hung off a drain pipe so he could peak through a window.
From the looks of it, everyone who was in there had been there for a long time. There was a group in a corner playing a game of Pai Sho while two others luaghed obnoxiously at the bar. Empty glasses littered the counter top. Zuko was about to pull himself up when the door to the tavern opened and a newcomer walked in.
It was an older man, and the edges of his robe were wet as if he had walked into the waves or walked through the dewy grass that covered the cliffside. He headed to the bar and sat down on the seat nearest the opposite window. Zuko pulled himself up and grabbed Katara's arm, pulling her with him to the other side.
"Hold my feet. I've got to lean down and crack the window shutter so I can hear. A man just walked in that might be our guy." Zuko whispered. Katara nodded and grabbed Zuko's ankles as he swung himself over the edge. The shutter was just out of reach, so Zuko pulled out one of his swords and used it to crack the shutter open just an inch. Bits of conversation reached the rooftop as the older man started talking to the bar tender.
"Ching Su, good to see you again! Kids driving you crazy again?"
"Li, you have no idea. They call the grand children but all they make is a grand headache. I'm here to relax, not so the kids can scream into my ears all week."
There was a clinking of glasses and the muddled sound of laughter.
"So Li, I was just taking a walk along the cliffside when I saw the strangest thing. And, you're not going to believe this, two figures were walking on water! Right in front of me!"
Zuko looked at Katara through the mask. Her blue eyes glinted beneath the veil. So they had been spotted. Would the man connect the dots?
"Relax, Ching Su, you haven't had enough to drink to be talking like that."
"I'm serious, Li. Call me old and crazy, but I know what I saw!"
"My mother would believe you" the bar tender replied. "She would say spirits roam the Fire Nation in displeasure over what we have done to the world."
"Your mother is a sympathizer?"
"Pacifist more like it. I never believed in all that kooky nonsense."
Katara rolled her eyes. This bar tender sounded like Sokka once upon a time. You know, before he had been attacked by spirits and kidnapped to the spirit world.
"You know, I heard that there's more spirit activity ever since the Avatar resurfaced. There were reports that he's still in the Fire Nation after the eclipse. He'd be crazy to stay here. The comet is just a few weeks away." the older man continued.
"I haven't seen anything weird" the bar tender said.
"Well, maybe I ought to report it. Spirits just cause trouble. Someone ought to patrol those empty cliffs. Any sort of nonsense could happen over there."
"Only kind of nonsense I know of would be partying kids."
"Still, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I heard stories about how a great spirit destroyed a whole fleet of ships at the North Pole. We don't need that kind of activity around here. It's not safe."
"Local sentries and enforcement hold up at the light house down the beach. Go there if you want to make a report." There were more clinking noises and the sliding of a stool. They must have moved away from the window, because all Zuko could hear was muffled laughs and a word here and there. His head was starting to get dizzy from hanging down so long. He raised up his head and Katara helped pull him back fully on the roof.
"He saw us" Zuko said, rubbing his head. "He doesn't think we're benders, but he's reporting it anyway. We don't need anyone snooping by the house. He can't fill out that report."
"So what should we do?" Katara asked. They heard the slam of a door as someone excited the tavern. They raced to the edge of the roof and watched the older man walking down the street, heading to the lighthouse in the distance. They had a decision to make. Either they could leave this man alone and risk patrols discovering their hideout, or they could make sure he never got to the lighthouse.
Zuko hesitated. He knew what the old him would do. But this new him? Katara looked at the cold blue mask nervously. She was waiting for him to make the decision. She wanted him to lead.
"We need a distraction" Zuko said finally. "If they're going to patrol anywhere we need to make sure it isn't down at the house."
"So what kind of distraction?" Katara asked. Zuko stood up and watched the man as he walked down the street.
"We need to be spotted again. Here in town." he said.
"How can we make that plausible? What would a bunch of spirits do in town?" Katara asked. She had blown up a factory, but these were people's houses. There was no war happening here. Just a bunch of people on vacation.
"He thinks the spirits might be angry at the war, right? There are nobles and generals staying in a bunch of those beach houses. All we need to do is shake them up a bit." Zuko explained. He remembered the last time he had trashed a noble's house. He wasn't proud of it, but the tiniest bit of him remembered the gratifying feeling. It had been a little fun too.
"Which houses?" Katara asked. Zuko frowned, trying to remember the bragging words of the other kids on the beach. He hadn't paid much mind to it before. He was still the Fire Prince and the other kids had ignorantly tried to brag to him about their families important role in the war. Three families stood out to him.
"I'll show you." Zuko said. "But first, lets get the attention of our admirer over here." Katara nodded and the two jumped off of the tavern roof to the next, following the older gentleman through the night. Katara started to make a thick fog as she went, bending it through the streets and alleys. She could use Aang's air bending and Sokka's sound effects right about now.
Anyone looking out their windows could have spotted the two figures jumping from roof to roof as the fog swirled around them. Their movements looked effortless as they glided silently over the rooftops. The older gentleman stopped in the middle of the street, turning to see the thick fog that had formed. A shutter of fear passed through him as the stillness of the night descended on him.
He looked up, just in time to see two dark figures flying over the rooftops. The moonlight illuminated the figures as they were pulled from the fog and leaped into the air. One had long flowing hair, partially hidden beneath a large veiled hat. The garment they wore was long and flowing, billowing in the night wind as the figure moved. Beside them was a darker figure, only visible by the bright blue face that lit up the night with a terrible sneer.
The man trembled. The spirits had come for him. The fog billowed around him and the two figures suddenly stopped and looked towards him simultaneously. The skin of the one was marked with strange twisted designs that circled the skin. The other crouched next to the figure as its gaze pierced through the man's very soul.
Perhaps the authorities didn't need to be informed of the spirit activity tonight. Maybe he could do that in the morning. The man changed course and headed to his family's beach house.
They continued, Zuko zeroed in on the target. He pointed ahead and Katara nodded. Just as they reached the edge of town, Katara put a hand on Zuko's shoulder. She wanted to make one thing very clear before they started this little mission.
"We don't hurt anyone, ok?" she whispered to him. Zuko looked at her through his mask. She couldn't see his face, but his eyes betrayed the emotion he felt.
"I never planned to" he whispered in her ear. "Don't worry." She breathed a sigh of relief before leaping off the roof. She ran through the dewy grass towards the beach house. She spotted the older man running ahead of her. He entered the house, looking nervously over his shoulder but not spotting her in the fog before going inside.
With one swift motion she pulled the thick fog around the beach house. Just like she had done in the caves a couple weeks before, she felt for openings in the sides and the roof of the house, anywhere she could push water through. It start like a trickle, but soon the lights in the house went on as Katara bended a steady stream of water into the houses.
They wouldn't hurt anyone, she reminded herself. This was quite simply a scare tactic. Zuko moved to where he could be spotted through the windows of the house. Inside, the family was starting to panic. Water was trickling down the walls even though it was not raining.
"Dad, what did you do?" a young woman asked as she held a young boy in her arms. The boy squirmed from her grasp and ran to the windows. The older man shook his head.
"I think I saw spirits at the beach tonight. They've followed me. I don't know why I've angered them. I was going to tell the island security" he told her. The little boy screamed and backed away from the window.
"Grandfather! Monster!" he cried. The man turned to the door. He was terrified, but he needed to take care of this. He lit a fire in his palm before opening the front door and stepping out the porch.
"Whoever you are, get away from my house!" he bellowed into the night. The rest of the words stuck in his throat as he spotted the silhouette of the two spirits standing in the midst of the fog. The fog was filling the house now.
"Your wars trouble my waters." A hoarse female voice hissed through the night. "Now you will be troubled."
The man punched a ball of fire towards the figures, but the fog suddenly swirled together and seemed to swallow the blast. The spirit raised her hands and suddenly water seeped through the floorboards and the sound of waves crashing violently on the shore echoed into the house.
All along the shore line, houses lit up as people started yelling about the sudden unexplained flooding in their homes. They were met with a thick fog that swept into the houses without warning.
Katara was starting to tire. She was manipulating very large amounts of water at the moment and trying to do it with as little motion as possible. If anyone spotted her, she did want to look like a water bender.
"The spirits are angry!" a voice broke through the night air. The older gentleman who had cowered on his porch took a step forward, emboldened by the presence of others.
"Chase them off! They are not welcome here!" he hollered to his neighbors.
"I think we've garnered enough panic and attention. Let's get out of here" Katara whispered to Zuko. He nodded and they attempted to back towards the ocean. If the vacationers thought they chased off the spirits, then maybe there would be no need to send out a patrol later. He was caught off guard when a fire ball blasted through the fog and barely missed his head.
"Right. Run!" he hissed to her. He grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him. They took off together down the beach as a group of frightened angry noble men in their pajamas gathered together.
The chase was on.