Katara woke to someone shaking her shoulder. She roused slowly, drawing breath in through her nose and feeling the cool air curl in her warm lungs. All of her body was warm to the point of being uncomfortable.
"It's time to go Katara." Iroh whispered. Katara took in another breath, sharper, and sat up. Riku was already at the door, a bag on her back.
"Okay." Katara said and swung her legs out of bed. Iroh helped her up and Riku got the crutches under her.
"You'll need to find a Waterbender as quickly as possible." Iroh said to Riku, who only nodded.
Following after them, Katara hobbled out into the shop and saw Kanda talking with Shui. Kanda was wearing a large cloak that covered her own bag and left her body looking bulky. It also shifted as Kanda moved and Katara saw something glint down at her side.
She was wearing a clawed gauntlet of silver.
Kanda turned as they came out and looked at the crutches with disapproval.
"It's going to be hard moving around with you on those." She stated.
"I can't imagine why." Katara replied dryly. This amused Kanda and the woman laughed.
"The house is already being watched, and we're limited in our options." Kanda looked at Iroh and sighed. "If they don't see me leave, they're going to know we went underground."
"And neither of the boys are quite as good as that Beifong girl." Shui interjected.
"If we go out with Katara like that though, it'll be easy for them to trail us." Riku said.
"Then we split the group in half. Jiro can take Katara underground." Iroh said.
"That leaves only Riku to go with Kanda. They'll be looking for three, not two." Katara said. "And even if someone goes in my place, they will have to hobble, which ends up with the same result. And we don't have the bodies for a totally false trail."
"Dawn and dusk is when people see the worst. We might be able to get away with it if we move quickly." Kanda said.
"That doesn't-" Katara started but stopped at the sudden sound coming from above them. They all froze and looked upward.
After a moment of silence, there were footsteps.
Someone was on the roof.
Kanda raised her arm, pointing the palm of her gauntlet toward the ceiling. Katara could see on the back of her hand there was a strange symbol etched.
"Move!" Riku hissed and shoved Katara over, just as the ceiling blew apart.
Kanda sent up a fire blast before the dust could settle, but a body moved out of the cloud of dust and debris. The intruder grabbed Kanda and whirled, throwing her back toward the pile of broken timber.
"Let's go!" Riku said and yanked Katara, forcing her onto her bad leg. Crying out, Katara faltered and they both went down.
"WATERBENDER!" A man's voice shouted and Katara froze, instantly breaking out in a sick sweat. She knew that voice.
"Go!" Kanda shouted just before a fireball blew through the front door. The ground beneath them surged, pushing them out as if they rode a wave. Out in the street, the wave of earth slid flat, causing the building across the way to ripple on its foundation.
"No time for subtlety." Jiro said as he and Haoran ran out into the street. The fake Dai Li jumped down as well, but were rebuffed by a wall of fire.
"Move!" Kanda yelled as she ran to them. Jiro and Haoran pulled up a slab of earth and, running much like people in the Poles did with their sleds, pushed Katara and Riku along the avenue. Sitting on the rock sled, Katara turned to look at Kanda. With her silver gauntlet, a massive fire wyrm slithered around her.
As Ruan's guard gave chase, the fire wyrm coiled up Kanda's body, readying itself for a strike. But a wave of water surged from up on the rooftops, knocking back most of the guards.
Sliding down on ice, the intruder now gained on them.
"It's-" Kanda's voice was barely audible above the sound of grinding earth and snapping ice.
But Katara knew.
"Aktuk." She finished and stared at Kanda's lowering arm. She faltered. Because she knew him.
Ice shards exploded into the ground near them, causing Jiro to swear and swerve. Riku fell to her knees and Katara grabbed her, making sure she didn't fall off.
"They're ahead!" Haoran called and Riku shoved Katara off, moving to the front of the sled.
Guards on roofs pulled up pieces of the road, forcing Jiro and Haoran to jerk their sled around the holes. Riku, constrained in her movements, shot out rapid fireballs, pushing the guards back and allowing them time to continue on.
It was early in the morning, so there were few people out on the streets, but the comotion had roused the citizens. To keep the collateral damage low, they'd have to break out of the rings as soon as possible. And the lower ring was only going to be more crowded.
"We have to get up!" Katara yelled. "It's the best way to avoid innocent people!"
"It also makes us sitting turtleducks!" Riku yelled back.
An ice shard whizzed through their group, grazing Riku's cheek. It was so sudden, Riku actually looked surprised and her face paled.
It was at that moment that their sled hit a hole in the road.
Jiro and Haoran took advantage of the lift; Jiro leaned to plant a foot down and then pushed off, launching them skyward. The movement jostled them all and Kanda yelped as she fell backward onto the sled. Already bloodless, Riku came unbalanced. Haoran pulled up a column of rock from below to push them again and it came like a shot under them.
Riku compressed at the hit, but as they started to fall in open air, she made no move to stay on the sled.
She fell.
"RIKU!" Katara screamed.
Riku came too in midair, looking furious at her predicament. Shooting bursts of flame out of her hands, she was able to turn herself over and then used her feet to create a thrust of fire. Jetting to the sled, Riku grabbed Katara's outstretched hand and extinguished her flames, swinging back onto the rock.
"What happened?" Katara demanded.
"When was the last time I fought a Waterbender?" Riku questioned. Katara opened her mouth but didn't have an answer.
"Hold on." Jiro called. "We're almost to the ring."
Having gotten them high enough, Jiro and Haoran had pulled up a thin rail of rock to run their sled, but it was being undermined by the guards that followed them. There were fewer, as Katara watched Aktuk rip them from the roofs or the street with vicious water whips. Riku kept more at bay with her truncated bending.
And Kanda was fighting Aktuk with her fire wyrm.
As they hit the ring, Jiro and Haoran yanked the sled around to run along it. If they could get to the trolley line, it would give them a better structure to use to escape. When it came into view, Kanda shouted.
Aktuk pulled back suddenly and disappeared from sight. Instead of his attacks, they know focused on the few remaining guards trying to pull them down.
"Where did he go?" Katara asked.
"I. I don't know." Kanda said, her voice tight with anxiety.
Just as Jiro and Haoran pulled the sled onto the trolley line, they found out.
A massive trunk of ice erupted just in front of them. But instead of attacking them, multiple tentacles of water snapped out and grabbed at the guards. Before they could even scream, the tentacles shot backward and the guards were smashed into the ice.
Katara could see the red blossoms even as their bodies started to fall down the trunk.
Her heartbeat shallow in her chest, Katara suddenly couldn't feel her fingers. Looking down, she saw her hands were completely purple. Tears welled in her eyes, but she was too scared to actually cry.
Ice formed on the trolley line behind them and Aktuk rushed up onto it. He rushed after them, pulling the water from behind to use as a trail of ice. Katara watched it shoot after them like veins, filling in the spaces between to allow Aktuk passage.
Kanda and Riku both shot fire at it and the water melted away, pouring down the sides.
So Aktuk, his feet frozen to the ice, simply went with it.
Riku rushed to the side of the sled and saw nothing.
"He must be underneath." She said.
"Why is he-" Kanda started but, sure enough, the trolley line crumbled in front of them.
Ice glimmered like geodes in the chunks of rock and Katara screamed as they fell. A water whip stretched out toward her, but Riku slammed a leg down, severing it with a knife of fire.
"What does he want with you?" Riku questioned.
"I got his sister killed." Katara said. "But Riku…"
Their rock sled hit the ground hard, despite Jiro and Haoran's best attempts. They kept everything stable, but Katara could feel the hit in her teeth and Riku faltered again. Grabbing each other quickly, they stayed on the sled while Jiro and Haoran pushed them forward.
The lower ring was much more congested and people shrieked as they leaped out of the way of their careening sled.
"Look! There!" Haoran said. Jiro was already turning as Katara went to look. They were close to the outer wall. Doing a bit of maneuvering that would make Toph proud, Jiro and Haoran were able to keep the sled moving while also using their bending on the wall.
It parted only inches from them, making Katara feel like they were only a breath away from impact. But the rock opened and they were suddenly out of the rings.
A boulder of ice landed in front of them and stopped their momentum.
Jiro, Haoran, and Kanda - the ones standing - all went flying. Katara and Riku only slammed into the ice. Riku went limp but Katara fought to keep conscious. Her vision blurred and shifted but she watched as Aktuk approached.
"Well now, this was unpleasant." Aktuk said, standing just at her feet. "And so unnecessary."
"Ak-tuk." Katara groaned and tried to crawl backward.
"AKTUK!"
Fire blew through the top of the ice boulder and knocked Aktuk back. Kanda shot up, fire erupting from her feet, and stood on top of it.
"This was not your mission!" Kanda yelled.
Aktuk stood, laughing even as his clothes smoked.
"This body had a mission. I do not follow your orders, human." He said.
A piercing noise sounded above Katara and suddenly, the dirt in front of Aktuk exploded.
Kanda, without a tattoo, was a combustion bender.
As the dirt settled, Aktuk still stood. He laughed and pulled his arms wide. The boulder behind Katara shrieked and she watched as Kanda fell in. As Aktuk brought his arms together, fire hit him in the chest.
"STOP IT!" Riku yelled. Aktuk paused and looked at her.
"Riku, we have to go." Katara said weakly.
"That's going to be a little hard." Riku replied. Katara looked down and saw the mangled leg twisted among the broken pieces of the sled.
"No." Katara scrambled down toward it, her hands hovering above the mess of flesh and bone. "No no no no no."
The sound of crunching dirt made her sit back and tilt her head upward. Tears streamed down her face, but she felt numb. Aktuk only stared down at her.
"I have been looking for you," He said and crouched down. "Wyrmling."
Confusion bubbled in her throat and came out as laughter. It boiled in her, making her lungs burn, and she laughed so hard Katara started to hiccup.
"Where is my egg?" Aivilayoq questioned.
"Aivilayoq, you have to help me." Katara pleaded.
"I cannot. This body does not heal. Healing among his kind is for the womenfolk." Aivilayoq replied. "You must heal her."
"I can't!" Katara cried. She held up her hands and Aktuk's head tilted.
"That is spirit poison, but you can handle that." Aivilayoq said.
"No, I can't. My bending makes it worse." Katara retorted.
"Then do nothing. I can take her body and I will sustain it." Aivilayoq said. "If you want it so badly."
"But Riku will still be dead." Katara shot back.
"You have all the pieces to heal yourself, but you choose not to. You cannot have others fix your mistakes wyrmling."
"I didn't poison myself."
"You allowed the poison to take root and grow." Aivilayoq paused and looked down at Riku. "That body does not have long now."
"Aivilayoq, what do I do?" Katara asked through her tears.
"Spirits, blood, and healing. Your teachers have covered all of these things." Aivilayoq answered.
"But you must get rid of those bindings. They stink and I do not like them."
Katara looked down at her hands and saw the dirty red thread. From the corner of her vision came a dagger hilt and Katara took it in a shaky hand.
"You are running out of time." Aivilayoq added.
Slicing through the thread, Katara freed each hand in turn. Looking up, she saw Kanda frozen in the ice boulder, her eyes moving about wildly. Turning back the way they came, Katara pulled the water, calling it to her hands.
She went to work on Riku's leg, feeling the poison creep further into her own chest. Fighting down the feeling of nausea, Katara also pulled on the threads of blood in Riku's body, stitching the broken ones back together. Set the bone, tie down the muscle, stitch the flesh. The water glowed around Katara's hands and she could feel Riku's heartbeat stabilize.
When it was done, Katara pulled more water around her cast, freezing it before slamming the butt of the dagger on it. It shattered and Katara put the pieces of her knee back together.
Her chest felt tight and her throat was closing. The poison was not infecting her blood, but merely connected to the veins. It was suffocating her.
"You must rid yourself of the poison wyrmling." Aivilayoq said.
"I can't." Katara rasped out. "It's too much."
"I can help you here." Aivilayoq said and held out Aktuk's hand. Still unsure, Katara hesitated before placing her hand down in it.
Blue light erupted from Aktuk's palm and Katara screamed. She could feel the spiritual energy, so similar to the storm she had calmed in the Spirit World. It flooded into her, as little as it was, and Katara could feel the cold heat of it in her.
Gritting her teeth, she placed it in her heart. With her bending, she moved her fingers over the veins and arteries in her chest. Even through her shirt, she could see the blue light glowing under her skin. It trailed down the lines she traced, and Katara caressed her own neck, drawing the blue energy lovingly upward. Then, like pulling off a glove, Katara led the energy into her fingers. It pooled there, an uncomfortable pressure, and she circled it all back to hold in her chest.
"What now?" She asked.
"You have to pull it from your body. Humans have plenty of holes, figure it out." Aivilayoq answered.
As crude as the dragon was, it wasn't that simple. The poison had bound itself to her blood. It would have to come out the same way blood did.
The dagger made easy work of it, and Katara pulled the knot of poison out like a bezoar.
The knot unfurled itself and, strengthened as it was by Aivilayoq's energy, turned into a snarling tizheurk, its jaws snapping at her. As it lunged, Aktuk's hand snatched it and his jaw opened wider than any human's ought. Aivilayoq stuffed the spirit into his mouth and snapped it shut. The screaming spirit went silent as Aktuk swallowed.
"Now," Aivilayoq said. "Where is my egg?"
"That's not-" Katara groaned and rubbed her face. She was exhausted. "We have to deal with her."
They both turned to Kanda and Aivilayoq pushed Aktuk's body onto his feet.
"I can tell you everything I know about this one, but I do not see how it will help." Aivilayoq said.
"Does she know anything about a princess Xianji?" Katara asked. Aktuk's head tilted again as Aivilayoq looked at Kanda.
"This body has no knowledge of Xianji, but that one might." Aivilayoq answered. "They are more preoccupied with spirits than politics."
"Then it won't-" Katara stopped as she heard voices yelling. She turned and saw three figures running toward her.
Xai Bau was with Jiro and Haoran.
"Aivilayoq, how do we get out of here?" Katara asked.
"I assume in the airship that one has over the hill." Aivilayoq replied.
"Grab Riku for me." Katara said and readied her stance. Aivilayoq picked up Riku in Aktuk's arms, standing still beside Katara.
"Here we go." Katara muttered.
She pulled on the ice boulder, melting it as she went but still holding Kanda in it. Xai Bau had slowed when Katara took her stance, so she was able to slam the water into him without worrying about Jiro and Haoran. As soon as she made contact with Xai Bau, Katara froze the water and took off, running toward Jiro and Haoran.
They stood, confused and staring at what Katara had done.
"What happened?" Jiro asked.
"How are you running?" Haoran added as Katara sprinted up to them. Aivilayoq followed quickly behind, holding Riku's unconscious body.
"Where is the ship?" Katara demanded. Without another word, Jiro turned and set off. They all followed and Aivilayoq hummed happily.
"The ice is thinner, so the woman will be getting them free soon." She said.
"Then we need to wake up Riku." Katara said.
They ran up the hill and Katara could feel the muscles in her legs burning. She could see the envelope from behind the hilltop and as she crested it, could see the ship. It was easier to run down and they made it to the ship quickly.
Aivilayoq got Riku on board and Katara turned to Jiro and Haoran.
"You have to come with us. You'll be safe in Omashu." She said.
"Why?" Jiro asked.
"Xai Bau and Kanda are the bad guys." Katara said.
"Really, because I only remember that guy attacking us." Haoran shot back and pointed at Aivilayoq.
"I only wanted to capture the Waterbender. I do not particularly care for the rest of you." She said.
Katara groaned and slapped her hand to her face.
"I can explain on the way but you two have to get on, now." She said with finality.
"I have awoken the Firebender." Aivilayoq announced. Katara crouched down by Riku's head and touched her arm.
"Riku?" She asked. Riku blinked and looked around before settling on Katara.
"What happened?" She questioned.
"No time. Can you light the airship?"
"Sure. But," Riku paused as she pushed herself up onto an arm. "Where's Kanda?"
"No time." Katara repeated and Riku met her eye.
Looking pained, Riku stood and went to the burner. Jiro and Haoran climbed into the small airship and the space was tight. Riku got the burner going quickly and Katara got the others to help her free the weights. As they started to lift skyward, Katara could see two figures moving toward them.
The shriek seemed to come after the explosion, and the shockwave buffeted the ship. They all slammed down, sliding across the floor, but Riku got back onto her feet and went to the controls. A natural, Riku quickly steered the ship higher and accelerated it forward. It would still take time to get out of Kanda's range, and Katara knew that it was only a moment before Kanda took to the sky herself.
Pulling water from the clouds, Katara sent it down at the pair. She wrapped it around both of them, freezing them in tight coils.
"That will hold them till we're out of range." She stated and sat down heavily on the floor of the ship.
"So can you tell us what just happened?" Jiro questioned.
"He's actually a dragon named Aivilayoq that I'm quest bound to while Xai Bau and Kanda are part of some conspiracy that has to do with the Spirit World. It has nothing to do with the reason why I ended up in Ba Sing Se in the first place, but it looks like the convergence actually helped us escape." Katara explained briefly.
"He killed people." Jiro said.
"He almost killed us!" Haoran added.
"But that was unintentional. I simply do not care about your lives while the others had decided to end them." Aivilayoq said.
"You're not helping." Katara muttered.
"Again, I do not care." Aivilayoq replied. "Humans are trivial creatures."
"Shapash certainly doesn't think so." Katara snapped. Aktuk's face smoothed out and his chin lifted.
"Yes, but my wife is a brilliant spirit with a great capacity to love even the most mundane things. Still," Aivilayoq sighed. "I do think she would want me to treat humans better. I will consider it, for her and for you."
"Why thank you, you're too kind." Katara grumbled.
"Katara, what you saw in the village, was anything familiar?" Riku asked. Katara turned to her and frowned.
"You mean who I saw?" She asked and Riku nodded. Katara sighed and looked down at her hands. The skin was clear and brown again.
"Yes." She answered finally.
Kanda had been the one at the village and who attacked her. And, after seeing the fire wyrm she had conjured, was probably the mysterious spirit that burned the village in the first place.
"Why can't we go home?" Jiro asked.
"Because you could expose Xai Bau. This way, he can say that Aktuk, the, uhm, body Aivilayoq is in, that he took us all." Katara replied. "He'd probably kill you otherwise."
"So we go to Omashu and then what?" Haoran inquired.
"I have to get to Zuko. If we don't manage to save him, Ruan is going to end up owning half the world." She said.
"And does this have anything to do with Xai Bau?" Haoran asked.
"No."
"Isn't he a bigger concern?"
"Of course not." Riku interjected. "He's a problem the White Lotus can take care of. We just tell King Bumi about it, and they'll handle it. This issue with the Fire Lord has much wider implications than one murderous nut job."
Haoran and Jiro exchanged a look but kept quiet. Riku huffed and sat down next to Katara.
"We have enough fuel for the trip and the food should hold out as long as we ration it since we don't have Kanda's bag." She said. Her voice was thick and Katara touched her arm lightly. Riku still shied away.
"I'm sorry." Katara whispered, apologizing for more than she could ever hope to amend for Riku.
"It's fine." Riku replied, looking up at the burner.
"So," Jiro said. "Anybody know any good stories?"