Last Time...
"Let's go get her. If possible, we'll get Haru as well, but Katara's the main priority. Lead the way."
Sitting firm against the cold ocean air, we waited on Katara and Aang at the north end of the rig. Aang had to venture into the rig to get Katara and Haru since they had apparently never told her where to meet us again, so Sokka and I were just silently hugging each other for warmth.
With my eyes pointed towards the rig, I scanned the fortifications and found very little. Obviously, the Fire Nation was very arrogant about their strength and ability. The only major issue was the spotlight that kept circling the edge of the rig. Sokka and I held our breath everytime it got close, swaying back and forth across the water next to us and scaring some fish from the area. Thankfully, it only passed by us twice, slightly missing us both times, before Aang flipped through the air onto Appa. Katara trailed behind him and she stayed put on the rig instead of jumping down onto Appa.
"Your twelve hours are up. Where's Haru? We've gotta get outta here!" Sokka whispered loudly. Katara's jaw tightened and she raised her gaze with determination set on her face.
"I can't."
Aang jumped back from the front seat and asked, "Katara, what's wrong?"
"I'm not leaving."
I bit my lip nervously. This was going to be a very dangerous situation.
"What do you mean Katara?" I asked, squinting my eyes in anxiousness. Katara shifted her gaze to mine and I saw the inner fire of the passionate waterbender burning in them. Nothing would stop her. I knew that. She knew that I knew that. I'm pretty sure that I knew that she knew that I knew that. (sorry I'll stop XD)
"I'm not giving up on these people."
"What do you mean you're not leaving?" Sokka cried.
"Shh!" I hissed. Even with the rig's low level of security, we couldn't afford to give away our element of surprise.
"We can't abandon these people! There has to be a way to help them." Katara insisted.
"Maybe she's right." Aang agreed, before turning his hopeful eyes on Sokka "What do you say, Sokka?"
"I say you're both crazy! Back me up on this Rei!"
Sokka turned to me expectantly. I bit my lip nervously and winced as I conceded, "I think we should at least try, but we've gotta do this cautiously so we get it right."
Sokka flung his head into his hands and groaned, "I hate it when you two get like this. C'mon, we'd better hide." We all climbed up off Appa, who flew off into the night after some quick instructions from Aang. I held them back from leaving the area and we hid inside an empty crate with an open latch as the two guards that I knew were coming rounded the corner.
I whispered to the group, "Sokka, I need you to knock one of them out. I don't care how you do it, but do it fast. Katara, you need to freeze the other in place with waterbending. We need information." They nodded.
"I don't know about this..." Aang mumbled. I put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know Aang. But I don't want us to fail before we even start. We need to get this right." I comforted and dragged him into a quick hug. I let go quickly and turned back to the moonlit walkway.
As the guards looked up at Appa flying away, the water tribe siblings pounced on their prey. It went off without a hitch and I stepped out onto the walkway. The guard that was frozen took a big breath in preparation for a yell, but Katara froze his mouth shut. I narrowed my eyes and grabbed the unconscious one. Frozen guard's eyes widened in fear and I let a small smirk grow. I shook the guy and drew my sword against his throat threateningly.
"Now that I have your attention. You're going to answer my questions and do as I say, or I'll slit this guy's throat right here and now. Then, I'll kill you too." I growled. Then I smiled sweetly. "Understand?"
The guy blinked furiously and, if the watering of his eyes was any indication, he understood very well.
"Let him speak." I commanded. Katara hesitated, so I turned a glare on her. The ice melted and flowed away from his mouth.
"Now, is this the captain?"
He gulped and mumbled, "No, I'm the captain."
I hummed and thought about it for a moment. My plan was shaky at best, so it would have been better just to have the captain unconscious from the start. Oh well. I dropped the body and whacked the captain on the back of the head. It slumped forward against his icy confines.
"Alright, there are vents all around this place. At the heart of them is a large amount of coal. Katara and Sokka need to guard the vent in the middle of the prison yard while Aang shoots up the coal from the core through that specific vent. I'll be making my way inside and making sure they don't know you're there until they need to. I'll also cut off their communications. If word gets out that the Avatar is here, our journey could swiftly come to an end. Also, Katara, how long does your ice last?"
"I'm not sure."
"Will it allow him to float?"
"Sure."
I grinned and stepped around to face the ice-encased man towards the sea.
"Hey! What are you doing? I can't swim!"
My eyebrow raised of its own accord.
"Maybe we shouldn't…" Aang started, but I cut him off, deadpanning, "You're the captain of an ocean prison rig. I don't believe that for a second. And I figure you'll have at least an hour before that ice melts to figure something out."
Splash!
The ice did exactly what I expected. It floated with the captain still trapped inside. I smirked at the fearful, wild eyes of the Fire Nation captain. All the families of the earthbenders held here were going to get their revenge. This was only the beginning.
"Alright, get moving guys. We're racing against the sun's movements."
I heard quick footfalls behind me as the kids ran to do their parts in this mad rescue plan. My face dropped into my hands for a second and I stared after the ice block. A pang of regret weighed heavy on my heart.
It's not as if I'm evil or anything. That threat was mainly for show so there wouldn't be any problems with the captain. If he had called my bluff and yelled for help, we'd have been done for. I sucked on my bottom lip and sighed. The earth kingdom village also did a number on my psyche. I could see the depression and hopelessness seeping through the air. It hurt so much more to see the utter despair that the Fire Nation caused in real life and to realize how my mind had completely forgotten their pain from the show. I wanted to make the Fire Nation pay.
I looked down at the Fire Nation guy still lying unconscious on the walkway. He needed to be dealt with. Rolling up my sleeves, I dragged him off the path and into an empty crate. I stripped off his armor, thankfully he was wearing other clothes under, and put them on. Surprisingly, they fit pretty well. Though, there was a weird part around the crotch. I exited the crate and flipped down the latch to keep the guy in if he woke before our plan could go off.
Adjusting my helmet so I could actually see out the visor, I went back to the outer walkway and kept walking it. It's entirely possible that someone would set off an alarm if a patrol didn't come back. I'd walk the path and find an entrance. For that part of the plan, I assumed that there was a main entrance that the guards went back in after patrolling. It would be the most convenient thing.
My prayers were answered because when I rounded the corner to the east edge of the rig, there was a big dock and huge double door with a single guard. I didn't stop walking, but took a deep breath in preparation for my deception.
"Soldier! Where's the captain? You were the one on patrol with him, correct?"
"I- um." I squeaked. I coughed and cleared my throat. I needed to make my voice lower.
"Speak up soldier!"
"He got sick. Over the side. He told me to leave him alone and let him deal with it. I guess the seasickness finally caught up to him." I guffawed and threw my head back laughing a bit. The guard drew back with worry.
"Oh. I hope he's alright."
I waved a hand dismissively.
"I'm sure he's fine. He's the captain. I'm sure he just told me to go on without him so he wouldn't have to show any weakness. You know how it is."
"Yeah… yeah. Right. Alright, go on in and get some rest."
He opened the door and I bowed my head slightly before walking into the main prison. The door fell closed behind me and a smug smirk unconsciously formed on my face. He bought it so darn easily. I shook away the triumph of the moment. No time to lose. I strided further into the belly of the beast. I passed a couple of guards stationed at different doorways and the mess hall with a smattering of soldiers eating midnight snacks.
Even the warden crossed paths with me. I recognized his face from the show. It was pretty hard to miss. He didn't even take a glance at me. He just strolled right past my person, terrified and frozen in a small bow, and on into a different section of the rig. Guess he was the kind of boss who didn't even notice the employees beneath him. Good news for me. I chuckled a little and moved on.
A couple of sneaky (and risky) rounds around the rig later and I learned my way around and found the communications room on the sixth floor. On my second round, I actually managed to sneak a grappling hook gun away from the armoury since I found that no one was guarding the second entrance in the back during my first round. From a window on the sixth floor, I could see small beams of sunlight creeping over the horizon. At the communications room, I paused just outside the door and flattened myself against the wall. I leaned against it for support as my nervousness was causing my legs to shake a bit. I breathed deeply, calmed my nerves, and strolled in. The soldiers took a bit to notice me, so I had to clear my throat. One of them stood immediately. I assumed that he was the head of communications.
"What are you doing here? Does the captain need something?"
I smiled and pulled out my trump card.
"Oh no. Nothing like that. We're having a birthday party in the mess hall. Just something small that we're keeping from the captain and the warden. Anyone who's still awake can go and have a slice of cake. I can hold down the fort here while you guys go get some."
The other two guards jumped to their feet excitedly.
"Seriously?!"
"Dude, that's so awesome!"
And they rushed for the door. I barely stepped out of the way in time before they ran me over. The head stood completely still. I gestured to the door. He looked me over skeptically.
"Why aren't you in the mess hall right now if there's cake down there?"
"I'm just not a big fan of cake. I know it sounds crazy, but I much prefer tea and biscuits and they've run out for today."
"Alright, as long as you're fine taking over our shift. It feels wrong to leave all of this to you."
I waved him off. "Oh don't worry. Go have some cake. Enjoy yourself for once. Maybe find a girl to kiss." I nudged him in the stomach with my elbow and he laughed.
"Yeah. Let's go to this party!"
He practically bounced out of the room. I laughed at his enthusiasm and leaned out the door. My eyes tracked him until he started heading down the stairs and I slammed the door shut and bolted it shut. I dragged two of the chairs over to the door as well to help if anyone tried to bust in. Just as I was pondering how best to destroy all the equipment, I saw an explosion of coal out the window down at the prison yard. Yes! They managed to pull it off. Now, for my part.
I grabbed a wooden chair from the back of the room and started smashing all the electronic boards with it. For it all being metal, the various tables and instruments collapsed very easily. I slashed all the wires I could find and finished out my destruction therapy by throwing the chair at the window, smashing it. Glass flew everywhere, but thankfully I was wearing the hard boots of the Fire Nation soldiers over my soft slippers from the Southern Water Tribe. I watched the battle unfold beneath me. Everything went according to plan and the gang huddled in the middle of the yard.
I leaned out the window and yelled down, "Hey guys! I'm up here!" They heard me somehow even with the great height that I was at and looked up to see me waving wildly from the broken window. I grabbed the grappling hook from the back of my belt. I had hid it there under my armor so I wouldn't get caught. I found my target with a crate towards the end of the prison yard and thought of all the tricks I had ever learned from movies. I breathed slowly and calmed myself. I put my finger on the trigger and breathed out as I shot it out. And it landed perfectly. Well… not perfectly, but it was workable. Thankfully, it still went into the crate I wanted, so there wouldn't be any problems smashing into the ground. I tightly wove the end of the rope around the door handle and took off my armor. I put the curved helmet over the rope and took a big nervous breath before pushing off into the open air.
The wind blew hard and fast past my face, whipping my hair up and around and in my face. I was so distracted by it, I almost missed the fact that an arrow passed right over my head and tore off a big chunk of my shirt. I whipped my hair around and saw a lone archer standing on top of the prison wall. But my fears were quelled quickly as Aang sent a gust of air right at the guy, knocking him off the wall into the water on the other side. Aww, Aang was protecting me. At that thought, a shit-eating grin crept up onto my face.
SMACK
And I smashed into the wooden crate hard and fast. The gang rushed to me as I crumpled to the ground.
"Rei! Are you ok?" Katara yelled as she ran. I laid still trying to process what just happened. Nothing felt broken or anything, so that was good. My full body must've hit the crate, so the impact was spread out. As soon as I came to that conclusion, the gang flipped me over and started examining me for any injuries. Slapping away their hands, I quickly got to my feet, albeit groaning as I did so. I leaned against the crate with one arm and smirked.
"I'm great. Not hurt at all. That was fun. Wanna do it again?"
"No!" Sokka and Katara yelled simultaneously and they whipped around to stare at the other. I giggled uncontrollably, nudging Aang until he was also laughing at the siblings.
"Alright, alright. Let's just go. You need to take better care of yourself."
She flipped her hair around and started walking away.
"Sure Katara. Sure." I drawled.
Aang rolled on the floor laughing and Sokka started to chuckle. Katara paused, obviously annoyed, then she just kept walking. And us three exploded into laughter.
We literally could not stop laughing. It was an endless cycle of explosive laughter, then trying to suck it in, then sharing a look with the others, then laughing again. Eventually, Appa showed up and Aang jumped up and onto the great beast. When he landed, I rushed over and buried my face in his fur lovingly.
We all got on and flew over to the docks, where the earthbenders were all climbing onto Fire Nation ships. Aang pulled Appa up right next to the lead ship. Katara talked with Haru a bit before jumping down onto Appa.
"I hope everything goes well for you!" Katara shouted up to Haru.
"Agreed!" He shouted back.
"Don't have too much fun without us Haru!" I chimed in and he laughed. Aang steered Appa up and away from the ships, heading north. I put a hand on Katara's shoulder. She had just lost her mother's necklace. That must've hurt a lot.
"Hey. It's ok."
She turned around, confused, with her necklace gleaming on her neck, reflecting the sun into my widening eyes.
"You still have your mother's necklace?!"
"Yeah?" Katara drawled, raising an eyebrow.
"Um… ok, nevermind then." I moved away and sat towards the back of the saddle with Sokka. I bit my lip. Shit. What was happening? Katara was supposed to lose that necklace so Zuko would track us. What's gonna happen now?
3rd POV
Zuko's eyes searched the prison rig's yard, glaring at every last bit of coal that brought the Fire Nation failure, when he caught a glimpse of a color that should not have been there. Sniveling Fire Nation soldiers trailed behind him as he stalked closer. A single arrow was strewn on the ground with a bit of fabric attached. He snatched it from the metal floor and sneered at the familiar fabric. It was the same pink and purple cloth with the same strange square design on it that the insufferable peasant wore. Then Zuko's eyes sharpened and his glare turned smug. This might help him. He stuffed the fabric into a random pocket and stormed back to his ship.